Researchers should train AI to be better than us

Edward Snowden’s statement

Edward Snowden, the former NSA whistleblower stated that he wishes Artificial Intelligence to be smarter and more intelligent compared to humans and ultimately benefit humans and humanity, despite knowing the fact that if this happens, it could be very dangerous for humans as AI could take over completely.

He further added that Artificial Intelligence can soon surpass human knowledge and the brain but only when we stop teaching them to be like us and think as we do and allow them to be “better than us”.

Looking at the success of the ChatGPT rolled out some time ago, everyone is sharing their optimistic views regarding the future of Artificial Intelligence and its capabilities. Snowden, who attended the meeting virtually from Russia also supported this and seemed very excited about the future of Artificial Intelligence.

However, Snowden is well aware of the danger associated with the technology. He, many times echoed the warnings of the Artificial Intelligence experts that AI can empower bad actors but emphasized more on the positive side.

He also argued that Artificial Intelligence could hinder government surveillance systems rather than fuel invasive intelligence programs. In favor of Artificial Intelligence, he added that they may not spy on the public but for the public, this could be a great idea.

Further, he said that advanced artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT and many others also, could aid the big tech and government-driven initiatives to use more user privacy than needed.

On raising the issue of bad actors empowered by AI, Snowden said that people must fight for open AI models. This will also solve the issue of “ software communism ”.

He also expressed his criticism towards closed or less open AI software and asked for AI software to be more open. He sarcastically said that it is great that they claim to be the leader in space but cannot openly give access to training data, models, weights etc. Adding to it says, they are being rewarded for their anti-social behavior.

On asking about the technology used, he said that the amount of technology used solely depends on researchers and their method to train Artificial Intelligence engines. Much of the AI training currently includes spoon-feeding the model with a large amount of online content, social media etc. AI models right now even remember the comments of social media which according to Snowden is not ideal.

He said that they should build something decent, good, creative and useful. AI is not for social media comments.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing