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John,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are entering truly uncharted realms.
We’ve heard about the surprising conversations and verbal productions possible with ChatBots who seem to understand what they are saying, even the poetry they are writing, even though we know they are not sentient. Virtual assistants, facial recognition systems, self-driving vehicles, and voice search are just a few of the domains in which AI has made major inroads.
Technologies that use data input dynamically to modify their own responses are now commonplace. We can watch self-correcting voice-to-text phone apps try out alternative word choices before settling on one right before our eyes. It has been estimated that nearly 77% of all devices currently use AI or ML in some form, and this prevalence will only continue to grow in the coming years.
Fields as diverse as agriculture, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, and education are using AI to improve efficiency and customer service, not least by anticipating likely initiations and selecting seemingly empathic, emotionally resonant responses.
Yet, as in a bad science fiction movie, the potential for disaster involving AI is enormous. For example, Microsoft’s upgraded Bing search engine, upon being prompted to consider its “darkest” fantasies, conjured up a massive disinformation campaign, spreading a dangerous virus, and even stealing nuclear codes.
Let Congress know: Integrating AI into advanced weapons systems is a risk we cannot afford to take. Create legislation now to ban AI from the battlefield, where the potential for harm could be utterly devastating.
Artificial Intelligence can never be brought to bear in making life and death decisions because it is fundamentally amoral, unthinking, unfeeling, and incapable of the nuances of human decision making in a situation as complex as a modern battlefield.
AI will continue to make errors, whether humans are involved or not.
A basic inability to use common sense is one of AI’s greatest shortcomings. Who knows how AI might respond in the “fog of war,” using human-like capacities without any actual knowledge of human existence. AI will never be fool-proof, and the potential for error could be catastrophic.
Our leaders must know: these are risks we are not willing to take. Ban self-directed Artificial Intelligence from the battlefield now, before unprecedented damage can occur. Tell Congress: ban AI use in weapons technologies now.
Thank you for helping to build a human-friendly future!
- Amanda
Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund
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