{"id":1917920,"date":"2023-04-22T01:26:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T05:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-lawmaker-with-phd-in-ai-warns-about-technologys-real-danger-its-not-killer-robots\/"},"modified":"2023-04-22T01:33:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T05:33:24","slug":"exclusive-lawmaker-with-phd-in-ai-warns-about-technologys-real-danger-its-not-killer-robots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-lawmaker-with-phd-in-ai-warns-about-technologys-real-danger-its-not-killer-robots\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Lawmaker with PhD in AI Warns About Technology\u2019s Real Danger\u2014It\u2019s Not Killer Robots"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-lawmaker-with-phd-in-ai-warns-about-technologys-real-danger-its-not-killer-robots%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1917920&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<p>The only member of Congress with an advanced degree in AI is urging caution as other lawmakers and industry leaders rush to regulate the technology.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) is one of only four computer programmers in Congress, and the only one with a doctorate in artificial intelligence\u2014and he says the rush to regulate is misguided. Obernolte said that his larger concerns about AI center around the potentially \u201cOrwellian\u201d uses of the technology by the state.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, a coalition of technology leaders like Twitter owner Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, among others, called for a total shutdown of AI research and development. This followed the release of ChatGPT 4, an extremely powerful artificial intelligence chatbot that has, among other milestones, completed tests like the bar exam in the 90th percentile and passed the SAT.<\/p>\n<p>The release of ChatGPT 4, easily the most powerful consumer AI on the market, prompted fears that AI was getting much more intelligent much more quickly than expected. In their letter, tech leaders called for a six-month shutdown of new AI development and called on Congress to regulate the technology.<\/p>\n<p>Obernolte sat down with The Epoch Times to discuss AI, saying that regulation is ill-advised and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of AI technology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not standing up and saying we shouldn\u2019t regulate,\u201d Obernolte emphasized. \u201cI think that regulation will ultimately be necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5213288\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript> The ChatGPT logo at an office in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2023. (STEFANI REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But he said that lawmakers need to ensure that they \u201cunderstand what the dangers are that we\u2019re trying to protect consumers against.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t have that understanding, then it\u2019s impossible for us to create a regulatory framework that will guard against those dangers, which is the whole point of regulating in the first place,\u201d Obernolte said. \u201cRight now, it\u2019s very clear that we do not have a good understanding of what the dangers are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others in Congress have called for prompt action on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is something that is going to sneak up on us, and we\u2019ll get to the point where we\u2019re in too deep to really make meaningful changes before it\u2019s too late,\u201d Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) told Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>He and others from both parties have raised concerns over the potential for AI to take over jobs previously done by humans. Others worry about the so-called \u201cSingularity,\u201d a predicted moment in AI development where AI will supersede human intelligence and capabilities.<\/p>\n<h2>AI Not Likely to Take Over the World<\/h2>\n<p>Obernolte said that the letter from tech leaders \u201cis helpful in calling attention to the emergence of AI and the impacts it\u2019s going to have on our society.\u201d But he observed that for laymen, the greatest fears around AI are like those displayed in the Terminator movies, a series about AI taking control of human computer networks and destroying the world in a nuclear apocalypse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe layman probably thinks that the largest danger in AI is an army of evil robots rising up to take over the world,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not what keeps thinkers in AI up at night. It certainly doesn\u2019t keep me up at night,\u201d\u00a0Obernolte said.<\/p>\n<p>Before Congress can even consider regulating, Obernolte said, it needs to \u201cdefine danger\u201d in the context of AI. \u201cWhat are we afraid might happen? We need to answer that question to answer the question [of how and when to regulate].\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5213205\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript> A screenshot of the letter signed by innovator Elon Musk and others warning against the dangers of rushing artificial intelligence development. (Screenshot by The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One big fear that Obernolte cited is the development of \u201cemergent capabilities\u201d in AI. This describes a situation where an AI is able to do something it was not initially programmed to do. But Obernolte said this isn\u2019t as big of an issue as some say, as it follows similar trends observed in primate brains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things that [AI critics are] alarmed about is what they call emergent capabilities,\u201d Obernolte explained. \u201cSo the ability of an algorithm to do something that you didn\u2019t train it to do, you didn\u2019t even think that it would be able to do, and all of a sudden, it\u2019s able to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s very frightening and alarming to people,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut if you think about it, it shouldn\u2019t be that alarming, because these are neural nets. Our brain is a neural net. And that\u2019s the way our brain works. You know, if you look at it, primate brain sizes, you know, as you grow the brain size, all of a sudden things like language begin to emerge \u2026 and we\u2019re discovering the same things about AI. So I don\u2019t find that alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Obernolte said the real function of ChatGPT 4 only bolsters his position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look closely at ChatGPT 4, it reinforces the veracity of what I\u2019m saying,\u201d Obernolte said. \u201cAI is a tremendously powerful and efficient pattern recognizer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChatGPT 4 is designed to take in this enormous amount of language, images, and prose in order to synthesize answers to questions,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you think about what what has alarmed [AI critics], in the context of all of the data it\u2019s been trained to recognize patterns in, it becomes a lot less alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>AI Can\u2019t Think or Reason<\/h2>\n<p>Another important aspect of AI that Obernolte pointed to is its inability to pass the Turing test or reason independently.<\/p>\n<p>This is important because if AI cannot reason like a human being and act independently, it poses little risk to humans. Almost all fears about AI involve AI becoming independent from humanity and working against the interests of humanity.<\/p>\n<p>But so far, Obernolte noted, the technology can\u2019t even reliably mimic a human being.<\/p>\n<p>Proposed by World War II British codebreaker Alan Turing, the Turing test describes a machine\u2019s resemblance to a human being. For an AI to \u201cpass\u201d the Turing test, human beings speaking to it via chatbox should not be able to tell that they are speaking to an AI. The test was proposed as a measure of the refinement of AI technology.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5179696\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/07\/id5179696-AI-Robot2-GettyImages-1189044387.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> An AI robot titled \u201cAlter 3: Offloaded Agency,\u201d is pictured during a photo call to promote the exhibition entitled \u201cAI: More than Human,\u201d at the Barbican Centre in London on May 15, 2019. (Ben Stansall\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Many see the Turing test as the gold standard for measuring AI intelligence. Thus far, no AI is able to pass the Turing test.<\/p>\n<p>Obernolte opined that even if in the future an AI could pass the Turing test, that would not necessarily mean it was a \u201cthinking, reasoning entity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is a matter of philosophical debate whether AI could ever have motives or carry out independent actions in the same sense as huma<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The only member of Congress with an advanced degree in AI is urging caution as other lawmakers and industry leaders rush to regulate the technology. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) is one of only four computer programmers in Congress, and the only one with a doctorate in artificial intelligence\u2014and he says the rush to regulate is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1917921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[24873,3725,6843,3914,8341,5001,17303,24872,3633],"class_list":["post-1917920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-danger-its","tag-exclusive","tag-killer","tag-lawmaker","tag-phd","tag-real","tag-robots","tag-technologys","tag-warns"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1917920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1917921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1917920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1917920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}