‘Most dangerous technology ever’: Protesters urge AI pause
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic in December announced a National AI Capability Plan, which is due by the end of 2025.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Rather than relying on individual nations like Australia to provide safety measures, Meindertsma said action at the global summit was essential, so that governments could make collective decisions and stop trying to race ahead of one another.
“If the organisers choose to stick their head in the sand and ignore the need for safety, we won’t get any meaningful international regulations,” he said.
Next week’s summit follows similar summits held in Bletchley, England and Seoul, Korea that delivered the Bletchley Declaration and the Seoul Declaration. Federal Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic will not be travelling to Paris for the summit, though senior government officials will be in attendance to represent Australia.
Husic in December announced a National AI Capability Plan, which is due by the end of 2025. Last year, he also released proposed mandatory guardrails to shape the use of AI in high-risk settings, as well as the first version of a voluntary AI safety standard.
Saturday’s protest is being held at 2pm at Melbourne’s State Library. Organisers said they had had a dozen supporters register but they were hoping for more on the day.
PauseAI supporter Michael Huang said: “We want to push for the Australian government to get more involved in these international negotiations, and we want this to become a mainstream policy topic for public discussion, instead of companies just determining the future.
“General AI systems could be used to develop new drugs, and new bioweapons, and it’s important we set up global regulations and conduct more research to find out whether it’s possible to make the technology safe. And if it turns out not to be possible, then we need a global moratorium.”
Co-organiser Mark Brown said, at a minimum, the protest was designed to amplify the discussion around AI safety. “If you get a system that is smarter than your species, and you don’t have a plan, you’re going to have a problem,” he said.
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