Hollywood made 'super geeks' afraid of artificial intelligence, colleague tells ministers

Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the 1984 film The Terminator. Photo: Alamy

Hollywood has helped fan the flames about the dangers of artificial intelligence. (AI) in the minds of a generation of «engineers, computer geeks and super-geeks», ministers heard.

The House of Lords was told that portrayals of AI in films such as The Terminator had helped to bolster «the hopes and fears of what AI can do to us» as he considered plans to regulate the emerging technology.

The Upper House of Parliament has been urged to back proposals by Lord Holmes of Richmond to create a new body known as the AI ​​Authority.

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The Conservative peer's Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill, which began consideration in Parliament on Friday, will require the government to push ahead with regulation of artificial intelligence in the UK, and assess and monitor potential risks to the economy.

Some conservative colleagues have expressed concerns about generative AI, including the need to ensure fair compensation for artists whose work is used as clues and to prohibit the technology from using images of child sexual abuse.

But colleague- Conservative Lord Ranger of Northwood suggested technology advocates needed room to innovate.

«Fear and Admiration»

He told the Lords: “If you are of a certain generation, like me, then these seeds of fear and admiration for the power of artificial intelligence have long been sown by numerous Hollywood films tapping into our hopes and fears about what AI can do with

He mentioned the «frightening submission» of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey and the «hellish future of machine intelligence taking over the world in the form of Skynet» from the Terminator films.

Lord Ranger added: “These and many other futuristic interpretations of AI have helped ignite the fire in the minds of engineers, computer scientists and super-geeks, many of whom have gone on to create some of the world's largest technology companies.”

Lord Ranger said he supported the aims of the bill and that there may be a long-term need for regulatory guidance, but he said he did not believe that AI could be regulated through a single body.

He was also critical of the labeling system that will be introduced, which is designed to ensure that anyone involved in AI training will have to provide authorities with records of all third-party data and intellectual property (IP) they have used, and provide guarantees that informs that consent has been obtained for its use.

A Conservative peer said: “This… will not help us work hand in hand with industry and trade bodies to build confidence in this technology.”< /p>< p>Other peers supported the bill, with peer Lord Freyberg telling the upper house: “Of course, if artists' intellectual property(s) are used to train these models, it is only fair that they receive compensation. enlisted and given the opportunity to opt out.»

«We need some rules» offensive material] or incitement to violence are offenses whether they are generated by artificial intelligence or not.»

The director and children's rights campaigner cited a report from the Stanford Internet Observatory that identified «hundreds of known images of child sexual abuse material in a public dataset used to train popular artificial text-to-text models.»

< p>She added: “The report showed that it was entirely possible to remove such images, but they didn’t bother. Now these images are multiplying on a huge scale. We need some rules by which AI will be developed.”

Lord Holmes, the bill's author, compared the emergence of AI to the advent of steam power during the Industrial Revolution, urging colleagues to support his proposals.

He said: “If AI is to human intelligence what steam is to human power, you get the picture. Steam has literally changed the times. Now is our time to act, and that is why I am introducing this Bill in your Lordships' House today.»

The Government believes a non-statutory approach to AI regulation provides «critical adaptability» but has committed to keeping it under review.< /p>

A government spokesman said: “As always, the government’s position on this bill will be confirmed in the debate.”