Christopher Nolan — the Hollywood director known for cerebral, original blockbusters — is warning that artificial intelligence (AI) is about to reach an “Oppenheimer moment,” and he insists that people need to be “held accountable” for its development.
Nolan, whose film Oppenheimer hits theaters next weekend, likens the rise of AI to the development of the atomic bomb, a saga his new film explores.
The Interstellar director’s comments came as part of a panel discussion during the debut of his film in New York moderated by former Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd, according to Variety.
Nolan began his comments by noting that everyone in the entertainment industry is talking about “algorithms,” even though few even know what an algorithm is or does, and they certainly don’t want to take responsibility for how they are used in streaming and other services. And the whole issue is “terrifying,” he added.
“Applied to AI, that’s a terrifying possibility. Terrifying,” Nolan added. “Not least because, AI systems will go into defensive infrastructure ultimately. They’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons. To say that that is a separate entity from the person wielding, programming, putting that AI to use, then we’re doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”
Indeed, there is a parallel to the development and deployment of America’s first atomic bomb. Some scientists feared that if an atomic bomb were to be set off, it could be powerful enough to actually rip away Earth’s entire atmosphere, utterly laying waste to the whole world. That possibility was an unknown factor as the first bombs were tested.
Nolan’s comments also come just as writers and actors are on strike in Hollywood because the old actor/studio dynamic has been entirely destroyed by streaming services, many of which employ algorithms to determine how customers receive their entertainment content.
“With the labor disputes going on in Hollywood right now, a lot of it — when we talk about AI, when we talk about these issues — they’re all ultimately born from the same thing, which is when you innovate with technology, you have to maintain accountability,” Nolan said of the current situation.
“When I talk to the leading researchers in the field of AI right now, for example, they literally refer to this — right now — as their Oppenheimer moment,” Nolan continued. “They’re looking to history to say, ‘What are the responsibilities for scientists developing new technologies that may have unintended consequences?’”
Todd wondered if the tech industry understands that AI may be nearing an “Oppenheimer moment” right now, and the Inception director said they do, indeed.
“They say that they do,” Nolan replied. “It’s helpful that that’s in the conversation and I hope that that thought process will continue. I am not saying Oppenheimer’s story offers any easy answers to those questions, but it at least can show where some of those responsibilities lie and how people take a breath and think, ‘Okay, what is the accountability?’”
Certainly, at nearly every turning point in human development, new technologies have been used for nefarious purposes. But the bulk of human advancement has always gone toward bettering humanity. Let’s hope that AI — if it really does pan out to be the next great advancement — follows the path of betterment, and that warnings such as those raised by Christopher Nolan are heeded.
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