Who Forewarned is forearmed. The president of the United States tweeted yesterday: “There are going to be more technological changes in the next 10 years – or even the next 5 years – than in the last 50. And I want the United States to lead that change.” Taking positions in technology has great benefits. The North American country led the digital revolution that began in the second half of the 20th century with pioneers who created wonders such as the silicon chip, mobile telephony or the Internet, an invention designed for military purposes that ended up being led by a group of university scientists. The main patents in many decisive advances are North American.
In today's globalized world it will be more difficult for the United States to be the only actor in the next revolution, artificial intelligence, but companies in this country are focused on this technology. They are investing a lot and, what should concern us in Europe, making many decisions.
When you ask a manager of a large company about artificial intelligence and future regulation – now there are no rules – he usually leaves some diplomatic phrase about the need for some type of regulation, with some mention of ethics seasoned with a declaration in favor of corporate responsibility.
Don't be fooled. The big companies that are today charting the future of artificial intelligence do not want any legislation. For the first time in decades, they are discovering the same thing that children do when they are not under the gaze of adults: they can play with the most incredible of toys without anyone setting limits.
These days I am in the United States learning about some of the projects that some of these companies are starting to launch with artificial intelligence and the feeling they give me is that they are very happy because they can develop everything they want without anyone drawing lines for them. red. It is not that I am a supporter of interventionism by public powers on business initiative, but the potential damage to society that the misuses of AI can cause are colossal.
In a few days it will be the first anniversary of the presentation to the world of the ChatGPT bot, based on a great language model. We have seen only the tip of an iceberg that in one year has become much larger. Europe has to get many parties to agree on its AI law. Well, hurry up, because this is going very fast.
