The battle to control AI: Who gets to write the rules?

Katie Prescott (0:02)

Hello.

Danny Fortson (0:03)

Hi.

Katie Prescott (0:04)

Has the apocalypse happened?

Danny Fortson (0:07)

No, what do you mean?

Katie Prescott (0:07)

What are you talking about? You're sitting in a tiny, tiny green box, and all we're hearing about over here is everyone in Silicon Valley, you know, worrying about the threat of AI killing people.

Danny Fortson (0:18)

I don't think if the robot uprising happens, this little soundproof booth is going to save me. But who knows, mate? I'll just stay in here and just hope for the best.

No, they are cutting off the power to a chunk of our block today to deal with some issue. So I have had to run around like a crazy person before they cut the power off, get the kids lunches made, get them to school and now run across town to find my little box of emotion.

Katie Prescott (0:45)

Well, should we get on with the show?

Danny Fortson (0:47)

Hello and welcome to Times Tech where we unpack how technology is reshaping our everyday lives. I am Danny Fortson.

Katie Prescott (0:54)

And I am Katie Prescott and this week we are talking about the global debate that has exploded around how to police AI after weeks of warnings from the people creating it about the existential threat that it poses.

Danny Fortson (1:06)

Yet again, yes, that's right. So last week we referenced it. One of Anthropix employees quit over safety concerns and another warned, his boss warned, that AI could quote, kill all humans.

And so, of course, chief executive Dario Amodei released a very long essay, as is his want, calling for a slowdown, a kind of a global coordinated slowdown in this rush to advance AI models alongside some recommendations about how that might look.

Katie Prescott (1:36)

But what was unusual about this essay is for once that the other industry leaders seemed to agree with him and have also been sounding the alarm, including Sam Altman and Elon Musk. We heard Bill Gates on the podcast sharing his views about how to keep the world safe as well as the AI threat encroaches. And all these warnings from Silicon Valley have caught the attention of leaders around the world, from King Charles here to President Trump with you, and started a global conversation, a bit of a debate really, about how we should regulate the companies or regulate the AI that they're developing.

Danny Fortson (2:12)

I have so many thoughts.

But principally, you know, one of the problem is, everyone seems to have a different idea about how to go about this. And some are pretty skeptical of the tech industry's proposals, let alone what they're warning about. But we're going to get into all of that in just a minute.

Katie Prescott (2:29)

Absolutely. I mean, a lot of people are disagreeing about the merits of their warnings. But I think most people do see this though, as a unique opportunity because it has brought that debate to the fore. And I guess the real question is, are lawmakers finally taking AI seriously in the way that Bill Gates said they haven't done up till now?

And are we going to see some sort of regulation put in place around it?

Danny Fortson (2:53)

And of course, who gets to write the rules? So we're going to get into all that a quick reminder before we get into the meat and potatoes.

You can watch this and every episode on our YouTube channel. The link to watch is in the show notes.

Katie Prescott (3:08)

Let's start with Anthropic, then, because it does feel like that's where, you know, the stone sort of dropped really and the ripples came out of it. And it's funny thinking back to last week's episode, because you just woken up in Canada and I was reading you messages on X where that research from Anthropic quit and said, you know, this is just, I'm really scared about what's going on. And then, as you said in the intro, his boss said, well, yeah, actually, I agree with him. I agree with Jacob.

You know, AI could kill greater than, there's a greater than 10% chance that AI could wipe out humanity.

Danny Fortson (3:45)

Within the decade.

Katie Prescott (3:46)

Within the decade, yeah.

Danny Fortson (3:47)

Yeah.

And after those warnings, Anthropic revealed that it had identified and prevented malicious efforts to use its Claude model to develop biological weapons. They said they uncovered five incidents involving users who were looking for information that could support the development of biological weapons. So, you know, that's a thing.

Katie Prescott (4:08)

Yeah, it's a thing. And I urge anybody listening actually to have a look at Anthropic's latest threat report because it does read like a John Le Carre novel.