Nightmare or reality, artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing by leaps and bounds, but many questions remain unanswered, the UN warned at the opening Thursday of a two-day conference involving humanoid robots.
Many attendees were surprised by the realism of the humanoid robots that crossed the corridors of this “global summit on AI for social good”, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN organization.
As research in AI, especially generative, is booming, the United Nations calls for the creation of rules and safeguards so that these technologies benefit humanity without endangering it.
“When generative AI took the world by storm just a few months ago, we had never seen anything like it. Even the biggest names in technology found the experience mind-blowing,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, referring to the summit. upon arrival of the ChatGPT software.
“The possibility of this form of intelligence becoming smarter than us has come so close to us,” he deciphered, noting that this surprised everyone, including the creators of these technologies.
In response, hundreds of academics, bosses and personalities called for a six-month moratorium on the development of the most powerful artificial intelligence systems, citing “great risks for humanity.”
In Geneva, the UN brought together more than 3,000 experts, leaders and business representatives this week to discuss the need to develop rules to ensure that AI is used for positive purposes for humanity, such as the fight against hunger or sustainable development.
Without it, AI risks giving us a real nightmare, according to Ms Bogdan-Martin, who describes a world with millions of jobs at risk and plagued by rampant misinformation, “social unrest, geopolitical instability and economic disparities in a scale we’ve never seen before.” “.
“Many of the questions we have about AI still remain unanswered. Should we pause on more powerful experiments? Will we control AI more than it controls us? And will AI help humanity or destroy it? ?”. she asked.
self awareness
The humanoid robots gathered in Geneva did not respond to their questions but may do so on Friday during an unprecedented press conference, in which nine of them are due to participate.
Whether they are humanoid or not, these robots have invaded the summit. Singer, employee of a nursing home, artist… sometimes it is difficult to identify them from a few meters away.
Equipped with cameras in their eyes, they follow what is happening around them, answering questions, smiling, frowning, and some even rolling their eyes.
One of them, Desdemona -Desi for her relatives- is part of the musical group Jam Galaxy Band.
Created by David Hanson, this purple-haired robot loudly sings jazzy tunes on topics ranging from love to credit cards to backyard dates.
“It’s pretty amazing. You might think it’s weird, but it’s great because the AI-generated lyrics are really amazing,” said saxophonist Dianne Krouse, who improvises alongside him.
Humanoid robot specialist Nadia Thalmann, a professor at the University of Geneva, has created a specimen in her image, called Nadine, who answers questions but does not move. “I was created to be a humanoid social robot, with a physical human appearance, to interact with people and explore the potential of artificial intelligence technologies,” Nadia Thalmann told AFP.
In the future, this robot should – thanks to technical improvements – be able to “better understand its environment, ask questions and not just answer them, analyze things better and be more aware of what is happening,” said its creator.
For now, the robots are not aware of what they are saying… “It will take years, because it is quite complex. Being aware of oneself is even more complex,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
