An open letter calling for a ban on the development of superintelligent AI, signed by more than 700 celebrities, AI scientists, religious leaders and politicians, was announced on Wednesday.
Among the signatories are five Nobel laureates; two so-called “Godfathers of AI”; Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple; Steve Bannon, a close ally of President Trump; Paolo Benanti, advisor to the Pope; and even Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The open letter states in full:
“We are calling for a ban on the development of superintelligence, which will not be lifted until
- broad scientific consensus that this will be done safely and in a controlled manner, and
- strong public support.”
The letter was coordinated and published by the Future of Living Institute, a non-profit organization that published another in 2023 open letter calling for a six-month pause in the development of powerful artificial intelligence systems. Although widely circulated, this letter did not achieve its purpose.
Organizers said they decided to mount a new campaign with a more specific focus on superintelligence because they believe the technology, which they define as a system capable of surpassing human performance in all useful tasks, could emerge in just one to two years. “Time is running out,” says Anthony Aguirre, executive director of FLI, in an interview with TIME. The only thing that can stop artificial intelligence companies from achieving superintelligence, he says, “is a widespread awareness among society at all levels that this is not really what we want.”
Survey published with the letter, found that 64% of Americans believe that superintelligence “should not be developed until it is demonstrably safe and controllable” and only 5% believe it should be developed as quickly as possible. “They are built by a small number of very rich companies, and a very, very large number of people who would rather go the other way,” Aguirre says.
Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Stephen Fry, rapper will.i.am and writer Yuval Noah Harari also signed their names to the letter. Susan Rice, national security adviser in the Obama administration, signed the document. One current employee of OpenAI, an organization, did the same described by its CEO Sam Altman as a “super intelligence research company”—Leo Gao, the company's technical officer. Aguirre expects more people to sign up as the campaign progresses. “The convictions are already there,” he says. “What we don’t have is people being free to state their beliefs out loud.”
“The future of artificial intelligence must serve humanity, not replace it,” Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, said in a message accompanying his signature. “I believe the true measure of progress will not be how fast we move, but how wisely we manage. There are no second chances.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's caption was accompanied by the message: “Yes, we need special AI tools that can help cure diseases, strengthen national security, etc. But does AI also need to imitate humans, groom our children, turn us all into drug addicts, and make millions of dollars in advertising? Most people don't want that. But that's what these big tech companies mean when they talk about creating “Superintelligence”.
The statement was kept to a minimum in order to attract a wide and diverse range of signatories. But for meaningful change, Aguirre says, regulation is necessary. “Much of the harm comes from the perverse incentive structures that companies are now subject to,” he says, noting that companies in America and China are competing to be the first to create superintelligence.
“Whether it's soon or it will take some time, once we develop superintelligence, machines will take over,” Aguirre says. “Whether this is good for humanity, we really don't know. But it's not an experiment we want to just strive for.”
