Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has urged lawmakers to prohibit the development of artificial “superintelligence” until it is safe and enjoys broad public support. Gordon-Levitt was among the more than 88,000 faith leaders, business leaders, creatives and scientists to sign a letter demanding a ban on the technology.
The letter reads:
Innovative AI tools may bring unprecedented health and prosperity. Alongside tools, many leading AI companies have the stated goal of building superintelligence in the coming decade that can significantly outperform all humans on essentially all cognitive tasks. This has raised concerns, ranging from human economic obsolescence and disempowerment, losses of freedom, civil liberties, dignity, and control, to national security risks and even potential human extinction.
On Thursday, Gordon-Levitt joined Stephanie Ruhle on the “11th Hour” to discuss his concerns about the possibility of superintelligence and AI’s effect on the film industry.
“I love new technology, and I’m actually pretty optimistic about AI,” the actor told Ruhle. “But this ‘superintelligence’ buzzword that’s floating around Silicon Valley nowadays is not about tools for helping people.”
He added, “AI doesn’t have to be this way, and that’s why I signed this letter. Because we should know the difference between the beneficial kind of AI that could be being built and this form of profit-maximizing AI that they are now calling superintelligence.”
Gordon-Levitt said he didn’t expect the letter to have an immediate effect but hoped it would start a conversation about how to move forward with the technology more safely. “I don’t think any of the folks who signed this letter — and believe me, almost all of them are way smarter than I am — are, you know, entertaining an illusion that this is going to change things overnight, but this is how progress always gets made,” he explained. The actor referenced past public campaigns against powerful industries that succeeded against the odds, such as the fight to raise the purchasing age for cigarettes. “None of those things would have been thought possible, and none of those things happened overnight,” he said. “They happened because people, over time, talk to each other and formed movements, and this petition is one small step in that direction.” You can watch Ruhle’s full interview with Gordon-Levitt in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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