Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).
Doocy cited some of the world’s “smartest people” saying that AI poses a “profound risk to society and humanity,” and asked whether President Joe Biden’s administration will follow their recommendations by regulating it.
“They want you guys to regulate it, will you?” Doocy asked.
“It highlights a number of challenges addressed directly in the administration’s blueprint for an AI bill of rights which was released last October, as I’m sure you’ve been following,” the press secretary answered. “It includes principles and practices AI creators can use to ensure protections related to safety, civil rights, civil liberties — are integrated into AI systems from start to finish. Right now, there’s a comprehensive process that is underway to ensure a cohesive federal government approach to AI-related risk and opportunities, including how to ensure that AI innovation and deployment proceeds with appropriate prudence and safety foremost in mind.”
Doocy cited Eliezer Yudkowsky, a decision theorist at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, who warned in an op-ed that a continuing advancement in AI will lead to the death of all people on Earth. (RELATED: Fox’s Doocy Has A Simple Question For Karine: Does Biden Think Overturning Roe Is Like Slavery?)
“Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die,” Yudkowsy wrote, Fox reported.
“There is now an expert from the Machine Intelligence Research Institute who says that if there is not an indefinite pause on AI development, this is a quote, ‘literally everyone on Earth will die.’ Would you agree that does not sound good?” Doocy asked.
“Your delivery, Peter, is quite something,” Jean-Pierre said.
“It sounds crazy, but is it?” he asked.
“All I can say is that there’s a comprehensive process in place, we put out a blueprint back in October as you know, I don’t have anything to share. We have seen the letter, we understand what their concerns are, again, a comprehensive process, we’re gonna let that flow,” she said.
The Fox News reporter asked if Biden is concerned about AI having the ability to become sentient, to which Jean-Pierre repeated that the administration has a “comprehensive process.” Jean-Pierre pointed out that Doocy laid out the concerns of AI in a “very dramatic way.”
“Is there anything more dramatic than quote ‘literally everyone on Earth will die,'” Doocy interjected.
“Pretty dramatic, pretty dramatic. We’re gonna move on, but thank you, Peter. Thank you for the drama,” she said.
The White House’s “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” warns of the threats posed to democracy and the rights of the American public and states that its outline “protects all people from these threats.”
“Responding to the experiences of the American public, and informed by insights from researchers, technologists, advocates, journalists, and policymakers, this framework is accompanied by From Principles to Practice—a handbook for anyone seeking to incorporate these protections into policy and practice, including detailed steps toward actualizing these principles in the technological design process,” the blueprint reads.