Legislative response to AI is already overdue | Opinion

Jake Plante is a resident of Brunswick and author of the book “Uncle Sam and Mother Earth: Reflections on the Environmental Movement and the Role of Governance.”

Although I really can’t fathom how AI could destroy human civilization in a matter of years, the dire warnings from AI developers are enough to get me to sit up and pay attention.

But there’s something Silicon Valley isn’t saying. It’s something that offers a ray of hope for our collective management of AI risk.

As best as I can tell, the AI threat to humanity centers around its ability to percolate through and take over the internet. The internet is AI’s breathable atmosphere.

So wouldn’t it make sense to reexamine our reliance on the internet?

Much of our critical infrastructure, including financial services, energy management, government records and communication systems, is now inextricably woven to the internet. And it just keeps on progressing in this direction. Banks, stores, medical services and the business world at large are constantly pushing us to conduct our transactions online.

Advertisement

Relying on the internet as our economic backbone is great — until it isn’t. The internet offers major efficiencies but the downside is that it leaves us vulnerable. I’m reminded of this every year when I receive a written letter apologizing for the seizure of my personal data by hackers.

A similar trade-off exists with the electric grid. Power interruptions are happening more frequently due to rough storms. The result is a growing lack of user confidence in reliable service and the considerable cost to families if they lose heat or have to replace spoiled foods. The answer for many has been to acquire back-up generators.

Having back-up systems to the internet is one option to protect us against an internet takeover or collapse. This would require government and businesses to create redundant local networks with independent servers, which would kick in when the internet goes down. These back-ups would maintain vital services and help thwart worst-case scenarios involving diabolical takeovers by AI.

Another option is to unplug from the internet altogether. This seems extreme given the times we live in but that approach has security benefits, as demonstrated in the way we uphold our democracy. Our voting machines and tabulations are separated from the internet and the system is backed up by paper ballots in virtually every state. Likewise, our nuclear weapon systems are isolated from the public internet.

Imagine if internet connectivity was a business option and not an accepted fact. It’s something to think about at all levels, including individual transactions. Would it be too retro to incentivize renewed use of cash and checks?

Disentangling our nation’s vital services from internet failures provides some peace of
mind. Certainly, it wouldn’t be the whole answer. AI might attack us with drones, robots and viruses so they say. To meet the challenges, in addition to reducing our dependency on the internet, the time has come to legislate guardrails on AI development.

Advertisement

Humans don’t heed warnings very well unless something collapses in a visible way and people get hurt. Our lackadaisical mindset hurts our response to problems like climate change. It permeates the financial sector with risky acceptance of cryptocurrency.

We’re slow to react in many other ways, including the new existential threat from AI. We’ve let the genie out of the bottle and now we have to figure out what to do.

It’s hard to slow technological wheels from turning. The AI race is being fueled by the inertia of greed and competition, including fears about China winning the race. It’s hard to urge caution when it comes to human exploration. In the 19th century, the British military crushed the Luddite rebellion over textile workers’ resistance to job-changing automation. The Luddites, who wanted fair labor practices, have been wrongly characterized as anti-technology ever since.

Today, our equivalent of the Luddite rebellion isn’t destroying AI models or the internet, it’s having the foresight and courage to manage them safely and wisely.

Copy the Story Link

Tagged: columns