An AI safety researcher has left Anthropic, a leading tech company, and warned that "the world is in peril," in the midst of rapid expansion for generative AI tools and large language models, according to BBC News.
What's happening?
BBC News reported that Mrinank Sharma resigned from the U.S.-based firm and wrote in his public resignation that the world is in a bad place and experiencing a series of "interconnected" crises "unfolding in this very moment."
Sharma led a team at Anthropic that researched AI safeguards and investigated issues including why gen AI systems overly appease users in the prompt responses, AI bioterrorism risks, and how AI systems can change human behavior. According to BBC, Sharma wrote that he would return to the United Kingdom, pursue a poetry degree, and disappear for some time.
Sharma's resignation came in the same week that OpenAI researcher Zoe Hitzig said she had stepped down partly in light of feeling "really nervous" about continuing to work in the industry.
According to BBC News, she warned that creating an economic engine that profits from new forms of AI-driven relationships before they are fully understood is dangerous.
Why are the effects of AI concerning?
The effects of AI are concerning because there has been very little regulation.
For example, according to a separate report, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that no company will be immune to AI's rapid growth and the rate at which it has and will continue to change work, infrastructure, and human strategy. Even Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI," warned in an interview with Fortune that AI could lead to significant job losses and could replace many routine roles.
Plus, AI systems also rely heavily on energy infrastructure. For example, an MIT report found that the explosive growth of AI has increased electricity demand from data centers, leading to higher energy costs in some areas.
What's being done about AI?
In response to criticism, Anthropic has released safety reports on its own products, including when it said its technology had been weaponized by hackers to carry out cyber attacks.
The BBC also reported that OpenAI stated in response to criticism that its mission is to make sure AI benefits humanity and that it does not sell user data.
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