Open letter warns about AI — and it should apply to crypto too

Both AI and crypto move extremely fast and are highly technical, making them difficult to regulate; but whistleblowers are silenced.

Another week and another warning about artificial intelligence.

But this open letter, which expressed fears that it could worsen inequalities, fuel misinformation and lead to uncontrolled artificial intelligence systems that could “potentially result in the extinction of humanity,” had a different impact.

From where? That’s because four of the anonymous signers are current employees of OpenAI, maker of the hugely popular ChatGPT. Six other people were working there.

It makes sense that so many people are fearful about the future of bringing artificial intelligence to the masses. While they believe this nascent technology could bring “unprecedented benefits” to humanity, they fear the public and regulators may not understand the full picture.

“AI companies have important non-public information about the capabilities and limitations of their systems, the adequacy of their protective measures, and the risk levels of different types of harm. But they currently have weak obligations to share some of this information with governments and none with civil society. “We don’t think all of them can be trusted to share voluntarily.”

Right to Warn

The parallels between artificial intelligence and the crypto space are stark. Both industries are extremely fast moving and highly technical. This creates major obstacles for both governments and regulators. First, some politicians may find it difficult to ponder the issue itself. Just ask U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, who refers to Bitcoin’s creator as “Saratoshi Nagamoto.”

From there, it becomes difficult to craft literate laws that encourage innovation among good actors and deter criminality among bad actors. By the time authorities catch up, such industries are often so unrecognizable that the legislation on the table does not reflect the realities of how the technology is being used and where the biggest risks lie. This shows that even 15 years after Bitcoin was first introduced, there remains significant regulatory paralysis regarding cryptocurrencies in the US.

As the AI-focused open letter notes, the lack of effective government oversight means there is a heavy reliance on whistleblowers to hold companies accountable. One of the authors’ biggest concerns concerns how confidentiality agreements effectively prevent them from speaking out.

“Ordinary whistleblower protections are inadequate because they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated. Some of us reasonably fear various forms of retaliation.”

Right to Warn

There is a symmetry between AI and crypto here too, as an in-depth and damning report recently published by an independent researcher tasked with investigating FTX’s 2022 implosion shows. concerns were paid up to $25 million. One of them was told to apologize to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now in prison, and a $16 million settlement was reached after he resigned from his position.

While the crypto industry has taken promising steps to right past wrongs following a series of bankruptcies in recent years (among them BlockFi, Voyager, and Celsius), you could argue there’s more work to be done. This makes the four commitments requested from AI firms in this open letter particularly applicable to the digital assets sector.

There is a call for leading AI companies to avoid implementing criticism bans on serving employees concerned about the risks involved, and to put in place anonymous procedures so that concerns can be raised with boards, regulators and experts. Some of cryptocurrency’s biggest controversies could have been avoided if similar security measures had been implemented.

In addition to embracing a culture of open criticism, there is a call for AI leaders to vow not to retaliate against workers who disclose confidential information after exhausting all other possibilities to escalate an issue.

It’s unclear how much this open letter will move the needle on the quest to regulate AI. There is also something to be said for the inherent transparency of blockchain technology, where the flow of funds and transaction records can be monitored in real time. Large language models, typically built behind closed doors, are much more transparent in comparison.

But the consequences of inaction and the potential harms faced by consumers every day are equally dire in both industries. Too many crypto investors have lost their life savings because they were not adequately informed about the risks; Lack of coordination among international regulators to prevent overseas bad actors from going unchecked. As AI becomes smarter and more user-friendly every day, the livelihoods of millions of hard-working people may now be at risk.