ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A group of Anchorage locals took to the streets last week to protest the quickening pace of AI development, calling for \u201can international treaty to pause AI development until it can be made safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protest was organized by PauseAI Anchorage, a local chapter of a national grassroots advocacy organization. In addition to the protest, 3 Alaskans flew to D.C. with PauseAI in April, to meet with Alaska\u2019s congressional delegation on the topic of AI. One of those three was Maxim Ishchuk, a computer science major at UAA, who was also at last Monday\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed a lot of experts were sounding the alarm on AI development and that there is no scientific consensus to make AGI [Artificial General Intelligience] safely,\u201d Ishchuk said. \u201cAnd at some point, I realized that there weren\u2019t many people in the community doing anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to government regulation on AI, experts and U.S. adults think more regulation is needed, according to PEW Research Center.<\/a> For his part, Ishchuk said what he encountered in D.C. is that many elected officials were lacking in knowledge on AI.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress is pretty uneducated on AI right now,\u201d Ishchuk said. \u201cAnd so a lot of it was basically just educating them about the existential risk and just major risks that AI poses in general.\u201d<\/p>\n Some are skeptical that any such treaty like the one PauseAI is calling for will come, among them is Alex Jacquez, <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s very hard to imagine something right now that looks like a multilateral agreement on AI,\u201d Jacquez said.<\/p>\n Jacquez is currently Senior Vice President for Policy Advocacy and Research at Groundwork Collaborative, prior to that, he previously served on the White House National Economic Council.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just real doubts, I think, that the government is up to the task, even though people do believe that we need more regulation,\u201d Jacquez said.<\/p>\n Further data<\/a> from PEW suggests American adults are concerned what AI might mean for their jobs, with 52% of employed adults saying they are \u201cworried\u201d about AI use in the workplace.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is largely, I think, being driven from managers, from executives, who are basically being told that they have to deploy these new tools,\u201d Jacquez said. \u201cI think that\u2019s actually causing some of the backlash that we\u2019re seeing amongst people at work who are wondering why there is suddenly an AI button next to every piece of software that they use.\u201d<\/p>\n Amidst a nationally watched race for Alaska\u2019s U.S. Senate Seat, the topic of AI might factor into voter\u2019s decisions, especially as interest in data centers increases in the 49th state.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a viability for a data center in Alaska with permitting and the regulatory measures sorted out and it\u2019s going to be cost effective for them, they\u2019ll do it,\u201d Jacquez said. \u201cI think they are trying to deploy as many data centers as possible as quickly as possible and really struggling up against some local opposition in a lot of places.\u201d<\/p>\n Opposition, such as the protest in Anchorage. Ishchuk said he supports the \u201cnarrow application\u201d of AI, but is still seeking a to slow unchecked development.<\/p>\n \u201cNarrow applications still allow us to do a lot of the cool things that we want to do with AI,\u201d Ishchuk said. \u201cBut we can do that without making beings that can think on their own and, you know, overpower us eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n So as signs spin along the Seward highway, passerby may be prompted to ask a larger question about the future of AI technology.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that Alaskans should really just ask the question,\u201d Ishchuk said. \u201cDo we want to support this push for artificial super intelligence and artificial general intelligence that is smarter than humans?\u201d<\/p>\n