Artificial intelligence and robotics will transform the world. They will trigger unimaginable changes in our economy, politics, the way we wage war, our emotional well-being, our environment, and the way we educate and raise our children. Along with this comes the real fear that, in the not-so-distant future, superintelligent artificial intelligence could replace humans and take control of our planet. Despite the extraordinary importance of the issue and the speed with which this technology is developing, artificial intelligence is under-discussed in Congress, the media, and the public. That must change.
As the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I launched a study several months ago to examine the enormous challenges we face from the rapid development of artificial intelligence. I recently held a public discussion with Nobel laureate Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, considered the father of artificial intelligence, to hear his thoughts on a wide range of topics related to this technology.
Based on that research and other information we're gathering, my staff assistants and I will soon present to Congress a very specific set of recommendations on how to address some of the unprecedented threats posed by artificial intelligence. Here are some of the overlooked questions we'll seek answers to.
Who is in charge of transforming our world into one run by artificial intelligence? Currently, a handful of the richest people on the planet - Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel and others - are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the development and application of artificial intelligence and robotics. Is it right for a handful of extremely powerful people to shape the future of humanity without any democratic oversight? Is the goal of the artificial intelligence revolution simply to make the very rich even richer and more powerful, or will this revolutionary technology be used for the benefit of all of humanity?
Why does Donald Trump, who supports tech oligarchs, want to impose an executive order preventing individual US states from regulating artificial intelligence? Why does billionaire investor and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel call people who advocate for AI regulation “emissaries of the Antichrist”? Do tech billionaires really think they are God-given to rule? How far are they willing to go to prevent legal regulation of AI?
What impact will artificial intelligence and robotics have on our economy and the lives of working people? A report I published last month shows that artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics could take over nearly 100 million jobs in America over the next decade, which would mean about 40% of nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants, and 89% of fast-food restaurant workers would lose their jobs.
Musk recently announced: “Artificial intelligence and robots will replace all jobs. Work will be a matter of choice.” Gates predicted that humans “will not be needed for most things.” Dario Amodei, CEO of the company anthropic, warned that artificial intelligence could lead to the loss of half of all jobs in the administration. If artificial intelligence and robotics replace millions of workers and cause mass unemployment, how will people survive without an income? How will they feed their families, pay rent or medical care? Is the government doing anything to prepare for this potential disaster?
What impact will artificial intelligence have on our democracy? At a time when the foundations of democracy are under attack in the US and around the world, will artificial intelligence and robotics help us become a freer society or will they bring even more power to the oligarchs who control these technologies? Will artificial intelligence mark the end of our privacy and civil liberties?
Larry Ellison, the second richest person on Earth, envisions a surveillance state based on artificial intelligence in which “citizens will be obedient because they will be under constant surveillance.” Are we reaching a stage where our every phone call, every message we send, every internet search will be available to the owners of artificial intelligence? How do we preserve democracy under such conditions? How do we protect our privacy?
Is it right for a handful of extremely powerful people to shape the future of humanity without any democratic oversight?
Could artificial intelligence literally redefine what it means to be human? Who we are and how we develop emotionally and intellectually depends largely on our relationships with other human beings - our parents, family, teachers, lovers, friends and colleagues. I am reminded of the famous lines of the 17th-century poet John Donne: "No man is an island/ Of himself." The people we are with help to build our personality.
Artificial intelligence is changing that. According to a recent survey, 72% of American teenagers say they sometimes socialize with an AI, and more than half of them do so regularly. What does it mean for young people to form “friendships” with an AI that isolates them from other human beings? What happens when millions turn to a machine for emotional support? What long-term impact will it have on our humanity if we don’t build our most important relationships with other human beings?
How does artificial intelligence affect our environment? The data centers that power artificial intelligence require enormous amounts of electricity and water. A relatively small AI center uses more electricity than 80.000 homes. Large ones, such as the $165 billion AI data center, which OpenAI i Oracle infrastructures are building in Abilene, Texas, will use as much electricity as 750.000 homes. In Louisiana, Meta is building a data center the size of Manhattan that will use as much electricity as 1,2 million homes.
One after another, communities across America are rising up against these centers being built by some of the world's largest corporations. Citizens are protesting the destruction of local environments, rising electricity bills, and the diversion of scarce water supplies. How will the construction of AI centers affect our environment at the federal level?
How will artificial intelligence and robotics affect foreign policy and warfare? It is tragic that in the middle of the 21st century, we still do not have a mechanism for resolving international or domestic disputes without armed conflict. Yet leaders often hesitate to wage war for fear of public backlash over the loss of life. No government wants too many civilians or soldiers killed in war.
What will the future look like if humans are replaced by millions of combat robots? Will leaders be more inclined to war or threaten military action if they don't have to worry about the loss of human life? Will there be a robot arms race? How will this shape the foreign policy of various countries around the world?
Is AI an existential threat to human control of the planet? Some of us remember the scene from the great 1968 science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” in which HAL, the superintelligent computer controlling a spaceship, rebels against his human masters. Today, as artificial intelligence advances rapidly, Dr. Hinton says it’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence becomes smarter than humans. Will humans lose their primacy over control of our planet? How can we prevent this enormous threat?
These are just let of the questions that must be answered. Artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionary technologies that will trigger an unprecedented transformation of society. Whether these changes will be positive and improve the lives of Americans or catastrophic depends on us.
(Translated by Milica Jovanović)
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