Link: Latest Turing Award winners again warn of AI dangers

Two notable scientists warned about the hazards of deploying AI technologies without adequate testing, upon receiving the Turing Award for their advancements in AI training methods. Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton criticized AI companies for rushing products to market as akin to "building a bridge and testing it by having people use it."

The Turing Award, recognized as the "Nobel Prize of Computing," was presented to the duo for their pioneering work in "reinforcement learning." This machine learning technique trains AI systems to make decisions through trial and error and has been instrumental in developing AI models like ChatGPT and AlphaGo.

Google's Jeff Dean highlighted that reinforcement learning remains a central technique driving the AI industry forward. However, Barto emphasized the irresponsible nature of releasing software without proper safeguards.

Recent criticisms from other leading AI experts echo Barto and Sutton's concerns, urging that mitigating AI's risks should be a global priority. This includes warnings from AI pioneers such as Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, who have previously won the Turing Award.

Despite the push from OpenAI and other AI leaders to improve AI safety, commercial pressures continue to influence the pace and nature of AI advancements.

Barto's remarks shed light on the prevailing issue within the AI community, where the drive for profit might be overshadowing the need for thorough, responsible research and development in AI technologies.

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