ChatGPT, Large Language Technologies, and the Bumpy Road of Benefiting Humanity
This is an incremental discussion on ethical frameworks for AI, addressing the problem of ensuring AI benefits all of humanity.
The paper argues that AI technologies like ChatGPT cannot benefit humanity without a nuanced understanding of humanity amid global inequality and existential threats, emphasizing the need for rigorous AI safety and ethics research to avoid ethical and social pitfalls.
The allure of emerging AI technologies is undoubtedly thrilling. However, the promise that AI technologies will benefit all of humanity is empty so long as we lack a nuanced understanding of what humanity is supposed to be in the face of widening global inequality and pressing existential threats. Going forward, it is crucial to invest in rigorous and collaborative AI safety and ethics research. We also need to develop standards in a sustainable and equitable way that differentiate between merely speculative and well-researched questions. Only the latter enable us to co-construct and deploy the values that are necessary for creating beneficial AI. Failure to do so could result in a future in which our AI technological advancements outstrip our ability to navigate their ethical and social implications. This path we do not want to go down.