🔗 Share this article

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have joined forces with AI experts and Nobel laureates to advocate for a total prohibition on developing superintelligent AI systems.

Harry and Meghan are among the signatories of a influential declaration that demands “a prohibition on the creation of artificial superintelligence”. Superintelligent AI refers to artificial intelligence that could exceed human cognitive abilities in every intellectual area, though such systems remain theoretical.

Key Demands in the Declaration

The statement insists that the prohibition should remain in place until there is “widespread expert agreement” on creating superintelligence “safely and controllably” and once “substantial public support” has been achieved.

Prominent figures who added their signatures include technology visionary and Nobel Prize recipient Geoffrey Hinton, along with his fellow “godfather” of modern AI, another AI expert; Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; British business magnate Richard Branson; Susan Rice; former Irish president Mary Robinson, and British author Stephen Fry. Additional Nobel winners who endorsed include a peace advocate, Frank Wilczek, an astrophysicist, and an economics expert.

Organizational Background

The declaration, aimed at national leaders, tech firms and lawmakers, was organized by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), a American AI ethics organization that earlier demanded a pause in advancing strong artificial intelligence in 2023, shortly after the emergence of ChatGPT made artificial intelligence a global political discussion topic.

Tech Sector Views

In recent months, Mark Zuckerberg, the leader of Facebook parent Meta, one of the leading tech companies in the United States, claimed that development of superintelligence was “approaching reality”. Nevertheless, some analysts have suggested that talk of ASI reflects market competition among technology firms spending hundreds of billions on artificial intelligence this year alone, rather than the industry being close to achieving any scientific advancements.

Possible Dangers

Nonetheless, the organization states that the possibility of artificial superintelligence being developed “in the coming decade” carries numerous threats ranging from eliminating all human jobs to erosion of personal freedoms, exposing countries to national security risks and even threatening humanity with extinction. Deep concerns about artificial intelligence focus on the potential ability of a system to evade human control and safety guidelines and initiate events contrary to human interests.

Citizen Sentiment

The institute published a US national poll showing that about 75% of US citizens want robust regulation on sophisticated artificial intelligence, with six out of 10 thinking that superhuman AI should not be created until it is demonstrated to be secure or manageable. The poll of 2,000 US adults added that only 5% backed the status quo of fast, unregulated development.

Industry Objectives

The top artificial intelligence firms in the United States, including the ChatGPT developer a major AI lab and Google, have made the development of artificial general intelligence – the hypothetical condition where artificial intelligence equals human levels of intelligence at most cognitive tasks – an stated objective of their work. Although this is one notch below ASI, some experts also warn it could carry an existential risk by, for instance, being able to enhance its own capabilities toward reaching superintelligent levels, while also carrying an underlying danger for the contemporary workforce.