In Washington, concerns raised by the rapid development of artificial intelligence brought two figures who are politically opposed together on Tuesday. Senator Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon, former advisor to Donald Trump and figure in the MAGA movement, called for strengthening control of AI during the Pro-Human Assembly, organized at the initiative of the Future of Life Institute. “I don’t think you can find two more committed supporters on the left […] and the right,” admitted Steve Bannon, before adding: “We have to rise above that. This is a pivotal moment in history. »
Bernie Sanders especially insisted on the concentration of power in the hands of large technology companies. “The people of this country must make decisions regarding AI, not just a handful of oligarchs,” he said. Steve Bannon used the same term, targeting the big fortunes of tech. Among the groups concerned are Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk's companies, which have invested massively in AI.
For a federal supervisory agency
The senator is now preparing a bill intended to slow down the development of the most advanced systems. Its text provides in particular for a pause in their development, the creation of a federal supervisory agency and the prohibition of the most advanced players from reaching superintelligence, the stage at which artificial intelligence would exceed human capacities for reasoning and understanding. “Artificial superintelligence is a threat to humanity, like nuclear weapons, and must be treated as such,” Bernie Sanders said.
The project provides for particularly heavy sanctions in the event of an infraction: managers could face up to twenty years in prison and the company concerned could be dissolved. Bernie Sanders is also calling for a national moratorium on the construction of data centers, infrastructure essential to the functioning of AI systems. The Future of Life Institute, for its part, defends the ban on the development of superintelligence until a scientific consensus guarantees that it can be developed in a safe and controllable manner.
Elected officials, religious and artists also participated
For his part, Steve Bannon departs on this subject from part of the Republican camp, favorable to an acceleration of American artificial intelligence and hostile to regulations likely to slow down companies in the sector. He notably contested the argument according to which asking for limits would amount to favoring China. “If you are not in favor of acceleration, you are anti-American” and “favorable to the Chinese Communist Party”, he summarized to denounce this reading of the debate.
The New York Times reports that the meeting went beyond the only indirect face-to-face between Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon. Several Democratic and Republican elected officials, religious leaders, artists and representatives of civil society also spoke. Democrat Greg Casar argued for banning AI systems that become too powerful for humans to control, while Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan said, “The future we all want is human.” This is not negotiable. »
“When you go towards a cliff, you brake. »
Still according to the New York Times, Republican Chip Roy raised the concerns of residents faced with the installation of data centers in their territories and the rapid development of technologies that they have little control over. Actress Ashley Judd also addressed the impact of AI on the spread of abusive images and misinformation. Catholic, evangelical and Mormon representatives, for their part, raised the question of the place of humans in a society where an increasing share of tasks could be entrusted to machines.
Our file on artificial intelligence
Bernie Sanders summed up his position with a formula: “When you drive towards a cliff, you brake. » Steve Bannon affirmed that “American citizens will no longer be the supplicants of the oligarchs”. Despite their political differences, the two men defended the same principle: decisions on the development of artificial intelligence should not be left solely to the companies that design these technologies.
