This week's covers highlight the transformative impact of exponential growth in AI-powered warfare and solar energy. Both technologies are rapidly advancing, with solar power expected to grow ten-fold in the next decade, significantly outpacing traditional energy sources like nuclear reactors.
Effective Accelerationism, a pro-tech movement, is advocating for the unrestricted advancement of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and other emerging technologies. The group believes in allowing A.I. to progress as fast as possible without any barriers or regulations. They have organized parties and hackathons to celebrate their vision and have formed a community on social media.
Helen Toner, a board member of OpenAI, shares her perspective on the clash with Sam Altman, the co-founder of the company. The incident highlights the tension between AI-safety advocates and those prioritizing technological progress.
Over 1,100 AI experts, including Elon Musk, have signed an open letter calling for a moratorium on the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4 for at least six months. The letter, released by the Future of Life Institute, warns that society is not ready for the increasingly advanced systems that labs are racing to deploy. The signatories include foundational figures in artificial intelligence, including Yoshua Bengio, Stuart Russell, and Victoria Krakovna. The letter argues that we need to slow down AI progress and ask ourselves whether we should let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth, automate away all jobs, develop nonhuman minds that might eventually replace us, or risk loss of control of our civilization.