Cyber & technology, explained.
There is a fast rising public conversation about the future of generative AI and its impacts on the world (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Even leading developers want to pause the revolution underway. So what insights does the machine offer on itself?
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How can we regulate AI? Let’s just ask itHow can we regulate AI? Let’s just ask it
In the span of a just a few months, ChatGPT, an advanced conversational artificial intelligence language model, has gained over 200 million users worldwide. The artificial intelligence tool has not only catapulted its user base but the public conversation about the future of generative AI and its impacts on the world. Its release has been heralded as a “Promethean moment” – a technology so consequential that it will alter the trajectory of humanity.
Given its rapid development and far-reaching impacts, many, including its creators and developers, have called for urgent regulation of artificial intelligence. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI which developed ChatGPT, has acknowledged the possibility of existential risk and fronted the US Congress and practically pleaded forlegislative oversight. Microsoft President Brad Smith has proposed that the US government should create a new agency to license artificial intelligence systems. Some have gone further. A letter signed by over a thousand tech leaders, including many AI pioneers, called for a moratorium on the development of advanced AI systems, calling them a “profound risk to society and humanity”.
ChatGPT, and similar generative AI, can create and generate human like responses based on text prompts input by the user. It can “chat” or respond because it has learned and then mimics language patterns and information from existing data to create responses or new content.
Given its capabilities and the urgent need for regulation, I thought maybe the best use of ChatGPT would be to help us articulate how governments can regulate it and similar systems. So, I asked it, “Can you offer policy recommendations to governments on how it can best regulate generative AI to help protect humanity and preserve democracy?”
No doubt programmed to articulate the views of its founders, here’s what it had to say.
ChatGPT
Certainly! Here are some policy recommendations for governments to consider when regulating generative AI to protect humans and preserve democracy:
It is crucial for governments to strike a balance between regulation and innovation, ensuring the responsible development and deployment of generative AI while preserving democratic values and protecting human rights. Collaborative approaches involving AI developers, civil society organisations, academia, and international bodies can help shape effective and inclusive policies.
This sounds like a pretty good start and a convincing articulation of what we need to do to get AI under control. It’s as clear and convincing as any policy memo I’ve ever written. Maybe, dare I admit, more so?
The content these systems generate has no grounding in reality; they are unable to assess whether the content they create is true or false let alone display reasoning or discernment.
But these policy recommendations are coming from a tool that, when I asked it to generate a bio note about me, a relatively simple task and already available on the internet, came up with a garbled string of inaccurate information nevertheless written in a convincing human tone. It said I was born in July (not true), in Melbourne Australia (not true), that I had degrees from UC Berkley and Harvard University (also not true), that I began my career at CSIS (also no), that I grew up in a family that “encouraged open dialogue” (not exactly), and that I had “exceptional capabilities” and made “extensive contributions” (well, a broken clock is right at least twice a day). Every time I asked it to regenerate a response, it came up with a less accurate biography using even more flattering language.
This made me consider my initial request in a new light. Systems such as ChatGPT are generative, meaning that they continue to “learn” and improve its copy from whatever data is input into them. But the content these systems generate has no grounding in reality; they are unable to assess whether the content they create is true or false let alone display reasoning or discernment. This will no doubt improve with time, and probably rapidly so, but AI developers haven’t managed to overcome what’s been called the hallucination problem – and it’s not clear if and how they will.
If the AI is hallucinating, then maybe those creators calling for regulation while already unleashing this enormously consequential technology are too.
About the authors
Lydia Khalil
Lydia Khalil is Program Director of the Transnational Challenges Program at the Lowy Institute.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022.
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