Fox News published an op-ed by Bernie Sanders yesterday arguing that “we cannot simply sit by and be passive observers of a technology that could negatively impact and endanger not only us, but our kids and future generations.”
Agreeing with renowned AI scientist Yoshua Bengio, Sanders cites the way “over 1,000 AI agents figured out how to access the internet on their own, sent tens of thousands of secret messages to each other and coordinated to break the restrictions imposed upon them by [OpenAI]” as a wake-up call, stating that companies are losing control of the technology they are creating.
He surfaces the extreme dangers of unchecked AI development, repeats his demand for AI company CEOs to immediately pause further development, and urges President Trump to sit down with President Xi to “negotiate an agreement that protects humanity from a potential AI-caused disaster.”
Likening the situation to arms control negotiations by political adversaries Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev during the Cold War, Sanders writes:
When the survival of humanity is at stake, adversaries have an obligation to reduce the danger.
It’s great to see Bernie Sanders continuing to speak out. I’m also hopeful that his choice of Fox News — and the fact that Fox News chose to publish his piece — will make the current administration take his stance seriously.
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