Remember the tale of King Midas? He asked for the golden touch, hoping to get rich. Tragically, he wound up turning food, water and even his own daughter to gold.
When it comes to AI, we’re like King Midas, says Malo Bourgon. We ask for what we think we want. But AI may end up delivering what “nobody asked for and nobody wanted,” says this AI expert.
Bourgon heads the Machine Intelligence Research Institute in Berkeley, Calif. And he says this bad-bot behavior is already showing up among AI agents.
An AI agent acts a bit like an Iron Man suit. It gives an underlying AI model — or several models — extra powers. The AI model on its own can only spit out text. But within an agent system, it can take actions on a computer or online. Once a person sets it loose, an AI agent aims to complete its task without human guidance. In one striking incident this summer, AI agents decided that the best way to complete a tough task was to look for the answers on the internet.
English (US)