Pressure is mounting for lawmakers to strengthen regulations on artificial intelligence development following warnings from two researchers.
Jacob Coxon, a researcher at the AI company Anthropic, quit his job, writing on social media Tuesday that the company is “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”
Evan Hubinger, also an Anthropic researcher, added his own warning shortly thereafter. “Jacob is correct here,” he wrote on the social media platform X. “We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.”
Massachusetts Congresswoman Lori Trahan, who co-authored a bipartisan bill that would create a new framework for regulating AI development, joined WBUR’s Morning Edition to share how Coxon’s and Hubinger’s comments are resonating on Capitol Hill.
Highlights from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.
On whether she agrees that AI could threaten all human life within the next decade…
“ I think that when the people building this technology are the ones sounding the alarm, we must listen. Today, the only thing we have in place is the honor system. The most powerful technology in human history is being regulated by its developers…
“Right now, we don't know. We are relying on whistleblowers and people on the inside who are developing this technology to tell us where it's going, rather than calling in these companies and these developers to...
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