The Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science (AMCS), has penned an open letter calling on big tech and other bodies to accelerate research in consciousness science. The call has been made given the rapid development of ChatGPT, Bard, Bing Chat, and other generative AIs.
The AMCS is not the first organization to write an open letter with AI concerns. Just this week, the Microsoft-backed BSA called for federal rules and guidelines on AI and in March, over a thousand signatories, including Elon Musk, asked all AI labs to pause AI training.
According to AMCS, it’s not such wild thinking to expect AI to soon reach “higher-level brain architecture and functioning”. It said this would put it somewhere in our moral landscape which would raise ethical, legal, and political concerns. As such, it wants to ensure that society understands the implications of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Suggesting a possible way forward, AMCS says that consciousness research is vital for understanding AI. It said that society and the scientific community need to take its concerns seriously. It hopes that its letter will accelerate research in consciousness so we can better understand AI and ensure positive outcomes for humanity.
If you’d like to read the letter in full, you can find it here. If you scroll to the bottom, you can add your name to it to show you’re in alignment with what it says.