Mila > News > Statement from Yoshua Bengio after signing open letter on giant AI systems

5 Apr 2023

Statement from Yoshua Bengio after signing open letter on giant AI systems

Mila founder and scientific director Yoshua Bengio published an article on his website explaining why he signed the open letter asking for a pause in development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. In a lengthy text, he shared his vision and answered the most frequently asked questions, including why he signed the letter and whether it will be enough to make a difference.

“It is because there is an unexpected acceleration –I probably would not have signed such a letter a year ago– that we need to take a step back, and that my opinion on these topics has changed.”

“We must continue to fight for the well-being of humanity and for the development of beneficial AI applications, such as those to address the climate crisis. This will require changes at the level of each country and the adoption of international treaties. We succeeded in regulating nuclear weapons on a global scale after World War II, we can reach a similar agreement for AI.”

The full article can be found here.