The Pope’s AI Guy Is Worried About ‘Cartel’ Behavior Among Big Labs
Paolo Benanti tells WIRED that hysteria over whether godlike AI could destroy humanity is distracting from the need for public debate about how to govern the technology.
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A Catholic Church advisor on artificial intelligence argues that major AI labs are engaging in "cartel" behavior by controlling the rules governing their industry and excluding the public from important decisions about the technology. He contends that warnings about superintelligent AI destroying humanity, while coming from researchers inside these labs, distract from the need for democratic regulation and public debate about how to constrain the companies building the technology. The advisor emphasizes that control standards should not be designed by the labs themselves, and that humans need meaningful control over the machines being developed. His concerns reflect the Pope's recent encyclical on AI, which warned against technocratic logic in the industry and called for international collaboration to ensure the technology serves the common good rather than geopolitical or commercial dominance.
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