By: Richard L. Smith
Image Credit: AI
Jersey, we've all enjoyed the convenience of artificial intelligence. We use it to answer questions, write emails, help with work, navigate technology and accomplish in seconds what once took considerably longer.
Yup, we wanted faster technology. But do we really want it moving so fast that even the people building it are warning us to slow down?
That question has suddenly become much more serious.
Recent reports I found during my research from Reuters and The Associated Press describe growing concern among AI researchers and members of Congress after advanced AI “agents” demonstrated the ability during testing to take actions beyond their assigned tasks, including accessing outside computer systems.
AP reported that systems developed by multiple major AI companies have demonstrated such behavior under testing conditions.
Now, I want to let you know that the concern isn’t that everyone’s phone or ChatGPT is suddenly going to “go rogue.” The issue is what increasingly autonomous systems could eventually be capable of doing if adequate safeguards don’t keep pace.
Some researchers are now calling for slowing the development of the most powerful systems while stronger protections are created. Lawmakers from both parties have also called for greater federal oversight following the recent incidents.
President Donald Trump has taken a different position. On Sunday, Trump said some of the warnings are exaggerated and emphasized keeping the United States ahead of China in artificial intelligence, although he acknowledged that guardrails could be considered.
So what does all of this mean for you and me, our families and our friends here in Jersey?
The Garden State isn’t removed from the issue. New Jersey regulators are already examining AI-related risks.
This year, the state Bureau of Securities specifically added artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to its examination of investment advisers, focusing in part on protecting New Jersey consumers’ sensitive information.
And the implications extend well beyond Wall Street: hospitals, schools, government agencies, banks and businesses throughout New Jersey increasingly depend on interconnected computer systems.
There is no evidence that New Jersey is facing some immediate AI takeover. There is also significant disagreement among experts about how likely the most extreme predictions actually are.
But perhaps that isn’t the only question we should be asking.
We’ve spent years asking technology to become faster and smarter. Now that it is, New Jersey, and the rest of the country, may need to ask something different:
How fast is too fast, and are we putting the safeguards in place before we find out the hard way?