Leading AI Companies Get Serious About Managing Risks

If you've been paying attention to recent artificial intelligence (AI) developments, you know two things to be true: It has the potential to change the world for the better while also threatening society in many ways.

With this in mind, governments around the world are searching for ways to regulate AI and ensure that it's only used for good. 

The White House recently reached an agreement with seven leading AI companies on taking steps to manage the risks of this technology. 

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What You Need To Know

Seven major companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence have pledged to oversee and manage the risks linked with the technology, according to a statement from the White House.

The firms — Amazon.com Inc., Anthropic, Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Inflection AI, Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI — will test the security of their AI technologies and share the results publicly. 

The announcement comes amid rising concerns about the potential misuse of such technology, especially with regard to spreading false information ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of vigilance toward any threats that these emerging technologies could potentially pose to democratic values.

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Among the recent developments, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, unveiled a new AI tool called Llama 2. Despite the advancements, the company has cautioned that the expectations surrounding the technology may have outpaced the technology itself.

Under the agreement, the companies will conduct security tests of their AI systems before their launch, implement methods to make AI-generated content distinguishable, regularly report the capabilities and limitations of their AI and investigate potential risks, including bias, discrimination and privacy invasion.

The White House stated that the ultimate aim is to make it easy for people to identify AI-created content. It also will collaborate with international allies to develop a global framework to govern AI's development and usage. The administration is preparing an executive order concerning AI regulation in the U.S.

Despite warnings about the potential misuse of AI technology to spread false information and cause societal instability, some leading computer scientists believe that predictions of AI causing an existential threat to humanity are exaggerated.

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