A variety of big tech companies have officially agreed to AI safeguards put forward by the White House, marking a significant step towards effectively regulating the world-changing technology.
Despite the waning users, AI platforms like ChatGPT remain as groundbreaking as they are controversial. Between their potential for disrupting industries to their proficiency with spreading misinformation, regulations have been slow to take hold for AI.
However, the White House has now established some basic rules around the tech, and many of the major players have agreed to follow them.
Tech Giants Agree to AI Rules from Biden
In a statement from President Joe Biden, several tech giants have agreed to follow guidelines for AI development in hopes of curbing the negative impacts of the technology.
“We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose.” – President Joe Biden
Considering the vast and expedited evolution of AI in the last few months, it’s safe to say that these kinds of rules are welcomed by the majority of Americans, even if the dreaded fear of stifled innovation rears its ugly head.
In fact, many tech pioneers have penned open letters in hopes of persuading officials like President Biden to take action in favor of stricter regulations for AI.
What Are the AI Safeguards from the White House?
So, what exactly are these rules put in place by the White House to keep AI development from spiraling out of control? Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the rules put forth by President Biden:
- Independent security testing – Third-party oversight will be key in ensuring that these companies are keeping AI development as secure and safe as possible.
- Report vulnerabilities publicly – Transparency will go a long way when it comes to reining in AI development when things go wrong.
- Watermark AI-generated content – Differentiating between AI and human-generated content is already hard enough, which is why making it obvious is vital for these businesses.
The rules are an excellent starting point, particularly considering they’re the first real piece of evidence that AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google Bard aren’t going to be allowed to run wild in our society.
Which Companies Agreed to AI Rules?
As you might’ve guessed, this agreement between the White House and big tech included many of the regular players in the industry. Companies that agreed to these rules include Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as AI firms OpenAI, Anthropic, and Inflection.
While the move is a good sign, many critics have noted that the voluntary nature of the agreement doesn’t exactly instill confidence in an industry that has shirked its global responsibilities many times in the past.
“History would indicate that many tech companies do not actually walk the walk on a voluntary pledge to act responsibly and support strong regulations.” – James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media.
Given the seriousness of AI development in the scope of world affairs, this writer hopes that the heads of these big tech firms are true to their word when it comes to sticking to these AI rules. Still, I’m not going to hold my breath in hopes that these CEOs will forego billions of dollars developing AI technology in favor of transparency and security.
