Government report: U.S. must prep to fight ‘extinction-level’ AI threat

By Bob Unruh

(Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay)

A new report commissioned by the federal government suggests it needs to move immediately to get the United States ready for the possibility of an “extinction-level” threat from artificial intelligence.

A report from Time cites “An Action Plan to Increase the Safety and Security of Advanced AI”  that was done by Gladstone AI.

The report suggests wide-ranging policy actions that “would radically disrupt the AI industry.”

It recommends that Congress make it illegal to train AI models using more than a certain level of computing power.

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In recent months, OpenAI has unleashed GPT-4 and Google has released Gemini, the latter largely to guffaws over its black George Washington and other unlikely computer-created images.

The report calls for a new federal AI agency that could require companies on the cutting edge of the tech to get federal permission to “train” such software beyond a certain point.

And Washington should ratchet down limits on the manufacture and export of AI chips.

Time explains the report was commissioned by the State Department in 2022 and written by Gladstone, a four-person company that “runs technical briefings on AI for government employees.”

Although commissioned by the feds, the report says it does not reflect the views of the government now.

“Current frontier AI development poses urgent and growing risks to national security. The rise of advanced AI and AGI [artificial general intelligence] has the potential to destabilize global security in ways reminiscent of the introduction of nuclear weapons,” the report said.

Time explained AGI is a hypothetical technology that could perform most tasks at or above the level of a human. That technology doesn’t exist now, but labs claim to be moving that direction.

The authors drew on interviews with members of OpenAI, Google, DeepMind, Anthropic and Meta to “paint a disturbing picture” about “perverse incentives that driving decision-making at various corporations.”

“New tools, with more capabilities, have continued to be released at a rapid clip … As governments around the world discuss how best to regulate AI, the world’s biggest tech companies have fast been building out the infrastructure to train the next generation of more powerful systems—in some cases planning to use 10 or 100 times more computing power,” Time reported.

And, the report noted, some 80% of Americans think AI accidentally could cause a catastrophic event.

Time noted, “Outlawing the training of advanced AI systems above a certain threshold, the report states, may ‘moderate race dynamics between all AI developers’ and contribute to a reduction in the speed of the chip industry manufacturing faster hardware.”

Gladstone officials Jeremie and Edouard Harris have been warning the government of AI risks for several years already.

The brothers say their company identified the State Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation as one agency with a responsibility in the field.

That office is the one to address risks from emerging tech, including from chemical and biological weapons and nuclear risks, Time said.

The report addresses the risk of weaponizing tech, as those systems even could “execute catastrophic biological, chemical, or cyber attacks.”

Also, the report addresses the possibility of losing control of a system so advanced it would take over from its creators.

One way to slow down the advances would be to restrict the use of chips that are used for AI.

“The report also raises the possibility that, ultimately, the physical bounds of the universe may not be on the side of those attempting to prevent proliferation of advanced AI through chips,” Time found.

The report itself noted, “As AI algorithms continue to improve, more AI capabilities become available for less total compute. Depending on how far this trend progresses, it could ultimately become impractical to mitigate advanced AI proliferation through compute concentrations at all.”

WND SPECIAL REPORT – “IT’S TRUMP VS. SWAMP PSYCHOPATHS”: From the Biden administration’s enthusiastic support for amputating body parts of troubled children, to its obsession with bringing as many millions of illegal aliens, terrorists and Chinese soldiers as possible into America, it is increasingly clear that many of this nation’s current leaders are, to put it plainly, stark raving mad.

Indeed, psychiatric experts are finally documenting how the symptom profiles of scary conditions like “Borderline Personality Disorder” and “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” PERFECTLY MATCH today’s top leaders.

One groundbreaking peer-reviewed study published in 2023 documents how left-wing extremism is closely associated with “psychopathic tendencies.” Likewise, retired psychiatrist Brad Lyles, M.D., explains how “one way of understanding the increasingly outlandish beliefs and behaviors of the left is through the lens of Borderline Personality Disorder.” And one of America’s top forensic psychiatrists, Lyle Rossiter, M.D., described Barack Obama’s mental state as “Malignant Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”

Consider a typical description of sociopathy: “Sociopaths are often well-liked because of their charm and high charisma, but they do not usually care about other people. They think mainly of themselves and often blame others for the things that they do. They have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly. They seldom feel guilt or learn from punishments.” Remind you of anyone?

From Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to their presidential Cabinet – including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra – all of these people “have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly.”

But it’s not just Democrat leaders. Multiple surveys now show how rank-and-file Democrats are TWICE as likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder as Republicans – from depression to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia to narcissistic personality disorder. All this and much more is stunningly laid out in the March edition of WND’s critically acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, “IT’S TRUMP VS. SWAMP PSYCHOPATHS.” Don’t miss it – you will see the whole political-cultural-spiritual war raging in the U.S.A. in a whole new light.

WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.

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Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


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