COMMENTARY:
I have become comfortable with using AI in both my professional and personal lives. AI has made my company more efficient in tracking and analyzing legislation that might affect our business environment at the U.S.-Mexico border. When I recently formed a non-profit for a neighborhood association, I used AI to quickly develop the association’s Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. In my personal life, I have used AI to catalogue by year, value, and place of manufacture a few vintage guitars that I have collected over the years. AI even helped me develop a replacement cost for this collection for insurance purposes.
In using AI, a thought occurred to me. I have access to virtually any information that I desire. Hypothetically, this technology could make me a more intelligent person than the great physicists, scientists, and philosophers that helped shape the world we live in. When I say more intelligent, I don’t necessarily mean I have more gray matter in my brain than them, but rather a much better access to knowledge and information.
However, the latest developments in the AI world have genuinely frightened me. First was the revelation that technology has advanced so quickly that AI models are acting more human-like, even conspiring against their own owners, and modifying data for their own purposes. A rogue AI model under testing escaped its boundaries and hacked in open-source platform’s Hugging Face’s systems without permission or its scientists even knowing that this occurred until after the fact. After this incident, four more hacking incidents were reported by Open AI. Even more have been reported, what seems almost on a daily basis.
What also worries me is that the people creating and advancing new, powerful AI models are starting to call for putting the brakes on AI until more guardrails can be put on this technology. Some AI experts are publicly stating that AI is a threat that could wipe out the human race in the near future. Incredibly, the CEOs of Microsoft, Anthropic, Open AI, and Google’s DeepMind have all called for a slowdown in the development of more powerful AI systems. When do aggressive competitors who are racing to dominate an industry come together to say we need to slow down? This is unprecedented and did not even really happen when the nuclear age was hatched. I grew up with the threat that a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and the USSR could end humanity on earth. It is frightful that another technology that humans have created is scaring experts in the industry. AI in the hands of bad people could be devastating. AI can even be devastating in the hands of developers who mean well but cannot control their models.
President Trump has called the concern pertaining to AI “a hoax,” and the only real control over this industry is “a smart President.” Trump has even signed an executive order that establishes a voluntary, not mandatory approach to AI safety and cybersecurity. His administration is using a mix of federal lawsuits, threats of withholding federal funds, and executive orders in an attempt to prohibit states from enacting legislation that would control AI. He has publicly stated that any controls of AI in the U.S. would allow China to take the lead and “win” in this field. Congress doesn’t seem to have the willpower to address AI through legislation.
However, China recently revealed that one of its AI models also had escaped its boundaries without its developers’ permission, so it is facing the same issues as the U.S. The Chinese government is attempting to control AI through state standards, security and outside testing, and agreements with AI developers, rather than any federal government mandates.
The AI industry is moving so quickly and making things up as it goes along. Such is the nature of this industry. AI is the new Space Race, and the U.S. is smack dab in the middle of it. Think of all the good things that AI could do: help develop cures for diseases, help with climate change, make industries more efficient and profitable, and produce valuable information that will allow business managers/owners to make more intelligent decisions.
The big question is whether China and the U.S. are willing to cooperate on the development and control of AI. It is certain that China does not want to have unchecked AI technology disrupting its infrastructure and military. The same goes for the U.S. During the heart of the Cold War, the U.S. and USSR signed the SALT agreements, limiting the production of nuclear weapons. Can the same be done to responsibly develop and control AI for good, not evil? I hope our leaders demonstrate the leadership to do so. Or are we destined to fulfill the old saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions?”
Jerry Pacheco is the president of the Border Industrial Association.
Jerry Pacheco's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.