Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cautioned in a comprehensive interview on the emergence and dangers of artificial intelligence that both robot soldiers and zillionaires are on the way.
“I believe we are not far from the development of robotic soldiers,” Sanders stated Sunday. “Right now, legislators must consider the loss of life while deciding to go to war. What does it indicate for global war and peace concerns if you don’t have to worry about loss of lives but are concerned about loss of robots? It’s a major concern.”
Sanders is well-known for concentrating on the world’s wealthy and billionaires and how the US government may benefit them.
In recent months, he’s focused on artificial intelligence, which he sees as an extension of his fundamental worries about income disparity.”Today, before we have seen the full implications of robotics and AI, you’re looking at unprecedented wealth and income concentration,” Sanders told reporters.
According to him, the richest 1% of Americans own more money than the bottom 93%. These billionaires, including the Musks, Ellisons, Bezoses, and Zuckerbergs, are all investing hundreds of billions of dollars on robots and artificial intelligence. What does all of it result in? The CEO of xAI, Elon Musk, just received approval for a compensation plan from Tesla, one of his other businesses, which might make him the first trillionaire in history.
As our democracy continues to deteriorate, it will result in these individuals at the top gaining even more wealth and political influence. If we don’t change this, the standard of living for working people will drastically drop.
Sanders’ emphasis on AI coincides with tech corporations announcing record-breaking investments in the field and attempting to win over President Donald Trump. While retaining many of the Biden administration’s AI initiatives, the Trump administration has made it a top priority to ensure that America’s AI ecosystem is “unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape” in order to prevent a “onerous regulatory regime.”
With growing interest in AI legislation at both the state and federal levels, Sanders is not the only elected leader raising awareness of the problem. A House panel convened on Tuesday to address safety of AI chatbots.
Sanders stated in the interview that he believes the problem is significant and wants to spark further conversation about artificial intelligence and its possible effects on society: This isn’t just another technical revolution, according to those who have examined the current situation. It will proceed much more quickly and is far more profound.
Sanders sees challenges not only to labor, but also to bigger conceptions of humanity, in the form of AI, a fast-moving and multipurpose technology.
According to Sanders, people are concerned that a lot of young people, including teens, are currently depending more on AI companionship than on other humans. What type of transformation does it imply for mankind if today’s children have AI as their best friends, as the ‘people’ to whom they relate, and where they spend the majority of their time rather than other humans?
Sanders said, “We’re talking about incredibly deep, deep issues of what it means to be human.” “We need to have a lot of conversation about this, and I hope we can start some.”
On Tuesday night at Georgetown University, Sanders will host a town hall with Nobel Laureate and “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton to talk about the development of AI and how it will affect workers.
People like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Dario Amodei, who are far more knowledgeable about this than him, are discussing enormous job displacement, according to Sanders. Musk has declared that “all jobs will be replaced by AI and robots.” It will be optional to work.
“But what the heck does it imply if it is going to replace all jobs? If I work in a factory or an office today, how will I feed my family? How am I going to pay my rent? “Who is talking about that?” Sanders also cited recent statements by Anthropic CEO Amodei that AI might remove 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs and raise unemployment by up to 20% in the next 1-5 years.
The ramifications of artificial intelligence and robots have received far, far, far too little attention from the American public, the media, and Congress.
Sanders convened a hearing on AI’s potential to help American families and workers in October and published a report on the subject.
Additionally, he has put forth a small number of policies that he claims could help address some of the problems caused by AI, such as lower workweeks, more employee ownership of companies, and even a possible robot tax on big businesses that would use “the revenue to improve the lives of workers who have been harmed.”
Additionally, Sanders has suggested that OpenAI, a well-known American AI startup, be divided due to its size. He said in an interview that his appeal “was more general” than OpenAI and intended to involve a number of the largest AI firms in the United States.
He explained, “When I talk about breaking these [companies] up, I mean creating a situation where this new technology is designed to benefit ordinary people, not just a handful of billionaires to make them even richer.”
Since no one has ever had to deal with this reality, I don’t have a blueprint in my back pocket, but I find it a little absurd that a small group of multibillionaires might decide humanity’s fate.
Sanders is also denouncing the increasing attempts of wealthy contributors and American startup capitalists to establish super PACs that will advocate against AI legislation.
He alluded to recent remarks made by Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel, saying, “There are people who are suggesting that it’s almost anti-religious, the Antichrist, to be demanding regulation of AI and robotics right now.” “The Antichrist in the 21st century is a Luddite who wants to stop all science,” Thiel stated during one of these seminars.
Sanders remarked, “It almost transports you back to the 1700s and the monarchies throughout Europe.” “Some of these Big Tech guys believe they have a God-given right to rule the world, and they find it unacceptable that a Congress or regular people might object to what they are doing.”
In order to elect people who will give them the freedom to behave as they like, they will invest limitless sums of money into super PACs. It’s quite dangerous.
When asked about expanding collaboration between the U.S. military and top American AI firms, Sanders brought up rising privacy issues. How far are we from a select few individuals being able to view every email you’ve sent, every phone contact you’ve made, and essentially every part of your life? We’re close.
We either anticipate being there or we are already there. When those in positions of authority have that information, it offers them exceptional control, he added.
Sanders joins a growing and nonpartisan group of national politicians focused on artificial intelligence.
Some, like as Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, have focused on the societal implications of artificial intelligence. Hawley has lately introduced numerous AI-related measures, including one to restrict minors’ access to chatbots, another to better track AI-related layoffs, and a system to assess AI models’ abilities.
Others, such as Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), have suggested legislation to restrict the sale of American AI technology and hardware to China.
Sanders, for his part, hopes that his voice will assist to progress the discourse. “I see growing awareness, but I don’t think Congress is moving anywhere near fast enough,” he told reporters.
