Richard Branson and Oppenheimer’s grandson urge action to stop AI and climate ‘catastrophe’
Dozens of high-profile figures in business and politics are calling on world leaders to address the existential risks of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis.
Richard Branson and Oppenheimer’s grandson urge action to stop AI and climate ‘catastrophe’
Billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, former UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, and Charles Oppenheimer, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s grandson, are among names calling for action to address escalating risks surrounding the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and AI.
They signed an open letter released Thursday by The Elders, a nongovernmental organization set up by former South African President Nelson Mandela and Branson to address global human rights issues.
Future of Life Institute founder Max Tegmark, one of the signatories, told CNBC that, while not in and of itself “evil,” the technology remains a “tool” that could lead to some dire consequences, if it is left to advance rapidly in the hands of the wrong people.
Urging Leaders to Address the Dangers
Dozens of high-profile figures in business and politics are calling on world leaders to address the existential risks of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, along with former United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, and Charles Oppenheimer — the grandson of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer — signed an open letter urging action against the escalating dangers of the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and ungoverned AI.
The message asks world leaders to embrace long-view strategy and a “determination to resolve intractable problems, not just manage them, the wisdom to make decisions based on scientific evidence and reason, and the humility to listen to all those affected.”
Global Action and Advocacy
Signatories called for urgent multilateral action, including through financing the transition away from fossil fuels, signing an equitable pandemic treaty, restarting nuclear arms talks, and building global governance needed to make AI a force for good.
The letter was released on Thursday by The Elders, a nongovernmental organization that was launched by former South African President Nelson Mandela and Branson to address global human rights issues and advocate for world peace.
The message is also backed by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organization set up by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, which aims to steer transformative technology like AI towards benefiting life and away from large-scale risks.
The Need for Safety Engineering
Max Tegmark, founder of the Future of Life Institute, emphasized the importance of safety engineering when it comes to the development and use of AI.
While acknowledging that AI is not inherently evil, Tegmark highlighted the potential dire consequences if the technology is left to advance rapidly in the wrong hands.
He compared it to safety engineering in other realms, such as sending people to the moon, where careful consideration of potential risks ensured the success of the endeavor.
