Generative AI should not just be a topic for the future

Apps like ChatGPT and Google Bard offer a glimpse into the potential of AI technology. The dangers of generative AI are also revealed. Experts are now worried and calling for development to be more strictly regulated in the future. However, this is very long term thinking.

The hype around generative AI is getting more intense, and the discussions more political. It is not difficult to see that there is a need to control the development of such technologies. However, we must realize that current considerations about future existential risks distract from the present. AI systems are already becoming widespread today and we need to consider the opportunities, security concerns and limitations that this entails. This is exactly what we should focus on now and not just on what the future might hold.

Fortunately, there are already many advances in the area of ​​trustworthy use and control of AI – from both a technical and an organizational perspective. Technologically, this includes methods for recognizing and eliminating prejudices in automated decisions. There are also approaches that promote transparency. Some AI systems provide explanations of how content was created or answers to questions.

These purely technical methods complement organizational methods from the policy side. Politicians in the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom are currently discussing draft legislation for the use of artificial intelligence. In this context, the European Union in particular deserves praise, as it is playing a leading role on the path to comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence: on June 14, 2023, the European Parliament approved the EU draft law on artificial intelligence, the first version of which was already proposed two years ago. . In order for it to come into force, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union must now negotiate and then confirm it. This is important and correct, because artificial intelligence is not a topic of the future, but has already reached the center of society. What we sleep now, we will not catch up later with this dynamic and fast-moving technology.