Is it time to hit the brakes on AI?
Welcome to the third issue of the Tech Wrap-Up Europe newsletter.
Every fortnight, we'll be sharing interesting stories and expert insights from LinkedIn members. In this issue, we're looking at the calls from tech industry figures to call a halt to the development of artificial intelligence, Europe's place in the global chip race and whether two CEOs are ever better than one.
By Sam Shead
With AI breakthroughs coming thick and fast, should we hit the brakes on AI?
Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, two of "the godfathers of AI" (Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton), and more than 3,000 others think so.
They've all signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI, fearing that the technology is racing ahead before we fully understand the risks.
"Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources," the letter reads.
Meanwhile, hundreds of coders and engineers on LinkedIn had their say on the matter. While some are concerned, many explained that AI can potentially help with drug discovery and climate change mitigation.
"There are huge challenges here, but banning progress is not the solution," Tim Scarfe, founder and CTO of software firm XRAI Glass, wrote.
AI expert Henry Ajder told LinkedIn News that this is a complex issue that needs to be approached pragmatically.
Some people think the letter is further hyping and sensationalising an already incredibly hyped and sensationalised topic, Adjer said. Putting AI "on a plinth" isn't necessarily useful as it may encourage some firms or countries to go faster so they don't "miss out on the action," he argued.
While Adjer's not sure AI is as "Godlike" as some are making out, he believes concerns about the speed of development are legitimate.
"In the last year, the rate of change and the rate of releases has been dizzying," he said.
The question is: will machine intelligence zoom past human intelligence anytime soon to become what's known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI? If so, what happens then?
"The risks could be extraordinary," warned Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which created the now famous ChatGPT. "A misaligned superintelligent AGI could cause grievous harm to the world." OpenAI is backed by LinkedIn parent Microsoft.
But many argue that Terminator-style worries are overblown and that today's most advanced AI systems are still relatively "narrow" text and image generators.
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, wrote on LinkedIn: "Calm down. Human-level AI isn't here yet. And when it comes, it will not want to dominate humanity."
Needless to say, governments are watching with caution as they attempt to figure out how to regulate the technology. This week, Italy banned ChatGPT, citing privacy concerns. Not everyone thinks it was a good move. Venture capitalist and LinkedIn Top Voice Michael Jackson accused the country of "once again taking the lead on being behind in tech."
Elsewhere, the UK government has published plans for how it wants to regulate AI. The proposals, put forward in a white paper, are designed to "turbocharge" the growth of AI in the UK, while mitigating potential risks of rapidly emerging machine intelligence to society.
Haydn Belfield, a research associate at Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge, said the white paper is "not enough to set the UK on the path to taking full advantage of AI."
See what LinkedIn members think about whether we should put the brakes on AI and have your say by voting in this poll.
By Sam Shead
AI is all the rage right now but the tiny chips that are used to train ChatGPT and other models are arguably just as important.
These chips – which underpin the global economy and are used in everything from hair dryers to missiles – are predominantly made in North America and Asia, where geopolitical tensions have been rising recently, most notably between the US and China. Perhaps understandably, Europe wants to start making more of its own chips.
"As the world becomes more connected and reliant on technology, the need for reliable access to semiconductors has never been more critical," writes tech veteran Besim Ismaili.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has developed a €43bn plan to boost its semiconductor sovereignty known as the European Chips Act.
While Europe doesn't produce advanced chips like the US (Intel Corporation), South Korea (Samsung Electronics) or Taiwan (TSMC), the continent does play a significant role in the global chip industry.
Chris Miller, an economic historian and the author of Chip War, told LinkedIn News that the continent "plays a sizeable role" when it comes to chips, adding that it creates a lot of them for the automotive industry, for example. Infineon Technologies, NXP Semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics are among the continent's biggest chip manufacturers.
Europe is also home to a company called ASML, which builds the complex extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines that are required to make the most innovative chips.
"The Netherlands and Germany produce critical tools, without which you can't make advanced chips," Miller said. "Those are capabilities that no one else can replicate."
Have you ever had two bosses? Ever been a co-manager yourself? Does it work?
Well, it looks like the jury is still out. Despite a rise in co-CEO setups in Europe, most of the experts that spoke to LinkedIn said that while there are definitely benefits (lighter workload, double the expertise and knowledge), there are also cons.
The potential for conflict is high, says Oluş Kayakan, a management consultant, as is losing sight of the bigger picture, argues Luca Carlomagno, an entrepreneur. Clara Overes, a business consultant, said companies with an efficient management team don't need two leaders.
And what about the staff? It can be hard enough to figure out what your manager wants when there's only one of them, is having two really going to make things easier?
Check out what experts are saying about the topic here and share your views in the comments.
- France bans e-scooters: Paris is set to ban rental electric scooters on its streets after residents voted against them. Check out Gill Tiney's take here.
- Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy: The California-headquartered firm, which tried launching satellites into space from rockets attached to 747s, ceased operations weeks ago and now hopes to find a buyer for the business. Check out Nick Ross's take here.
- Say hello to the meh-taverse: A growing number of companies are scaling back their metaverse ambitions to focus on other technologies, leading some to call it the "meh-taverse". Check out Amy Morgan's take here.
- Apple headset: Apple’s long-awaited mixed-reality headset is widely expected to be released in June, and CEO Tim Cook is already explaining why he thinks augmented reality tech is a game-changer. Check out Martyn Makinson's take here.
- Is Europe losing top tech founders? Some of Europe's most promising entrepreneurs are weighing a move to the US and Asia, according to tech founder Sven Jungmann. Check out Kike Miralles take here.
Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau – At Techleap.nl, Constantijn is on a mission to turn the Netherlands into a unicorn nation. He talks about Dutch startups, innovation, and early-stage tech ecosystems.
Şebnem Elif Kocaoğlu Ulbrich – Elif is a fintech advisor with a focus on project management, business development and partnerships. She talks about trends in fintech, legaltech, banking, and design thinking.
Richard Foster-Fletcher – Richard is the executive chair at MKAI. He talks about AI technologies that will make the world a kinder, fairer and more sustainable place. Richard was also featured in our Big Ideas 2023 package this year, check out his idea here.
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A bi-weekly digest of news, views and insights from the world of tech written by Orlando Crowcroft and Sam Shead.