Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei released an essay on Saturday calling for a slowdown in artificial intelligence development.
As an AI hater, I celebrated and paused. My resistance to AI had been validated.
Resisting AI is valid. From its proven negative environmental impact to concerning detriment to our critical thinking skills, AI causes a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. Nevertheless, AI is here to stay whether we like it or not. Amodei didn’t call for an AI shutdown; he’s asking to reevaluate how leaders use it. As citizens, we should do our part. Instead of resisting, do your research: it’s up to us to make use of this time and educate ourselves on how AI can be used for good.
Every person should be AI literate. However, anxiety about AI is scaring people away from learning about it. Most adults don’t understand how often they use AI. A survey revealed that 79% of AI experts believed adults interact with AI several times a day, while only 27% of U.S. adults believed so. This lack of awareness about how we use AI day-to-day is dangerous.
“It’s important that we have an informed and critical consumer base, that we’re thinking about the technology adoption decisions that we’re making and making informed choices that benefit ourselves, our families, our communities (and) society as a whole,” said Ken Fleischmann — department chair, professor of information and founding chair of Good Systems, Ethical AI UT Austin.
Understanding AI’s benefit to society keeps us informed and boosts motivation for positive innovation. Even if you hate AI, recognize the counterargument and keep an open mind. Innovation will still happen regardless of whether or not the public supports AI’s growing prevalence in society. Accepting AI’s benefits along with ethical AI practices might be the answer to apprehension toward AI.
AI facilitates workplace productivity, innovation in healthcare and personalized learning. At UT, the Good Systems program supports six research projects working to implement ethical AI technological research to improve society. The Smart Hand Tools project, led by Fleischmann, uses AI to increase the safety of trades work training.
“We’re specifically focusing on leveraging AI to empower skilled trade workers, and making sure that AI is used in ways that can benefit workers rather than displacing them,” Fleischmann said.
The costs of AI make it difficult to justify the benefits, most commonly environmental consequences. However, there are efforts working to curb those consequences and improve data centers’ energy efficiency and sustainability.
Brian Korgel — Rashid Engineering Regents Chair, chemical engineering professor and director of the Energy Institute — leads the Large Load Symposium at UT. This project brings together industry professionals and energy scholars to discuss the rapid growth of data centers and craft solutions to prevent large-load data centers from straining the power grid.
“I think our biggest challenge right now is people destroying people,” Korgel said. “Can AI do damage? Yeah, you can have AI tools try to hack into infrastructure and it’s happening. AI can be used as a weapon.”
A world of good AI is possible. It is our responsibility to learn how to use AI ethically and promote positive AI innovation over unethical practices. The future of AI is uncertain and scary, but Amodei’s call is the perfect opportunity for humans to take back control.
Coppa is a journalism sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina.