Her former CEO Google Eric Schmidt expresses fears that the artificial intelligence It could be used by terrorists to “cause harm to innocent people” and calls for government supervision.
‘My real fears are not the ones that most talk about artificial intelligence – I’m talking about extreme risk“He said the former google boss on the BBC.
The billionaire of technology, who held upper seats in Google from 2001 to 2017, He told the Today show that North Korea, Iran or even Russia could adopt and abuse technology for the creation of biological weapons.
He called for government supervision of private technology companies that develop artificial intelligence models, but warned that excessive regulation could suspend innovation.
Schmidt has agreed with US export controls to powerful microchips, which supply the most advanced artificial intelligence systems.
Before leaving his post, former US President Joe Biden imposed restrictions on the export of microchip, except for 18 countries, with the aim of slowing down the progress of opponents in artificial intelligence research.
This decision could be overturned by Donald Trump. “Think of North Korea, Iran or even Russia, which have some bad goals,” said the former Google boss.
“This technology is evolving so quickly that they could adopt and abuse it, causing serious damage,” He added speaking to presenter Amol Rajan.
The Scenario Osama Bin Laden
He also explained that artificial intelligence systems, if found in wrong hands, They could be used to develop biological weapons, causing “a bad biological attack by a malicious person”.
“I always worry about Osama bin Laden -type scenario, where a truly bad man takes advantage of aspects of modern life to harm innocent people,” he said.
Bin Laden was the brain behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, when al -Qaeda terrorists occupied aircraft, killing thousands of people in the United States.
Schmidt emphasized the need for a balance between state supervision of AI development and over -regulation of the sector.
“The truth is that its artificial intelligence and its future will be created mainly by private companies,” he said.
“It is really important for governments to understand what we do and watch us,” he added, adding that: “We do not ask to act uncontrollably. We believe that there must be regulation. “
The former Google boss made these statements from Paris, where the action session for artificial intelligence was completed, without The US and the United Kingdom sign the agreement.
Sustained that the outcome of excessive legislation in Europe “It is that the revolution in AI, which in my opinion is the most important post -electric revolution, is not going to happen in Europe.”
He acknowledged that the big technology companies “did not understand 15 years ago” the enormous dynamics of artificial intelligence, but now they realize it. “My experience with technology leaders shows that they understand their impact, but they may evaluate priorities differently than a government would do,” he said.
Yes to ban on mobile for kids
Eric Schmidt supports initiatives to ban mobile in schools. “I was one of those who did not understand, and I take responsibility that people do not work as we technology people thought,” he said. “The situation with the children is very concerned about me.”
“I think smartphones can be safe for children, as long as there is a measure … We all agree that children should be protected from the dangers of the internet.”
Referring to social media, for which he supports the ban on use by children under 16, he added: “Why do such a great, uncontrolled experiment in the most important people in the world – the next generation?”
In 2024, the Australia’s parliament passed a law prohibiting social media use To children under the age of 16, with Prime Minister Anthony Albaneze declaring that it is vital to protect children from social media’s “harmful consequences”.
A recent study, published in The Lancet medical journal, found that the ban on schools in schools did not improve students’ behavior or performance.
However, the study concluded that prolonged use of mobile and social media is linked to lower performance in all areas.
BBC information