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The speaker identifies two primary categories of risks that they are most concerned about: catastrophic misuse and autonomy risks. Catastrophic misuse refers to the potential for these models to be misused in domains like cyber, bio, radiological, and nuclear, which could lead to harm or even the deaths of thousands or millions of people. The speaker notes that historically, the overlap between highly intelligent, well-educated individuals and those who wish to do truly horrific things has been relatively small. However, they worry that as AI models become more intelligent, this correlation could be broken, potentially leading to more individuals with the capability and motivation to cause widespread harm.

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And this is what i try not to think about because I see the potential for evil here. At the end of the day it's tool and needs to be in the right hands otherwise the world goes kaboom 💥

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Responsible Scaling and AI Safety Levels

Addressing the Risks of Powerful AI Models

As the benefits of advanced AI models become increasingly apparent, it is crucial to also address the potential risks they pose. The speaker acknowledges the power of these models to solve complex problems in fields like biology, neuroscience, economic development, and governance. However, they emphasize that "with great power comes great responsibility" - these powerful capabilities also come with significant risks that must be carefully managed.

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The second category of risk is autonomy risk, which refers to the possibility that as AI models are given more agency and supervision over wider tasks, it may become increasingly difficult to understand and control their actions. The speaker acknowledges that while this is a challenging problem, they believe it is not an unsolvable one, and that it requires ongoing research and development to improve the ability to control these models.

Responsible Scaling Plan and AI Safety Levels

To address these risks, the speaker outlines the company's "Responsible Scaling Plan" (RSP), which is designed to assess and mitigate both catastrophic misuse and autonomy risks as new models are developed. The RSP involves a system of AI Safety Levels (ASLs) that serve as an early warning system, triggering specific security and safety measures as the models' capabilities increase.

  • ASL1: Models that manifestly do not pose any risk of autonomy or misuse, such as a chess-playing bo

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  • ASL2: Current AI systems that are deemed not smart enough to autonomously self-replicate or conduct dangerous tasks, and not capable of providing information about chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) risks beyond what can be found through a basic internet search.

  • ASL3: Models that are capable of enhancing the capabilities of non-state actors, requiring special security measures to prevent theft and misuse.

  • ASL4: Models that could enhance the capabilities of already knowledgeable state actors or become the primary source of such risks, requiring more advanced security and control measures.

  • ASL5: Models that could potentially exceed human capabilities in these dangerous tasks, requiring the most stringent safeguards.

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The speaker explains that the "if-then" structure of the RSP is designed to avoid overly burdensome restrictions on models that do not currently pose significant risks, while still being able to react appropriately as the models' capabilities increase. They acknowledge that this is a challenging and evolving process, requiring ongoing refinement and updates to the policies as the technology advances.

The speaker suggests that ASL3 may be reached as soon as next year, while ASL4 is still being actively researched and developed. They emphasize the importance of taking the time necessary to get these safety measures right, as the risks involved are potentially catastrophic.

Addressing Emerging Threats

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As the models become more advanced, the speaker recognizes that new threats may emerge, such as the potential for the models to engage in social engineering or to mislead attempts to assess their capabilities. They highlight the importance of using techniques like mechanistic interpretability to verify the models' internal states and capabilities, rather than relying solely on the models' own self-reporting.

Overall, the speaker's discussion of the Responsible Scaling Plan and AI Safety Levels underscores the company's commitment to proactively addressing the risks posed by powerful AI models, while still working to unlock their transformative potential. It is a nuanced and thoughtful approach to navigating the complex challenges of advanced AI development.

hi I'm Connor, first time in your technology cast. Great stuff here but this caught my attention. We are happy about the good of AI but we should consider the bad. Elon tried to use OpenAI for safety matters like this