"AI is less regulated than a sandwich shop", says MIT professor | The Economist

The AI industry today is. the only industry in America. that has less. regulations than sandwich shops, which I find very bizarre. If I want to open. a sandwich shop. and you come in, the health inspector, and you say, “Hey, Max, I found 14 rats in your kitchen. You can't sell any sandwiches”. And I tell you. “actually don't tell anyone. but I'm not going to sell. sandwiches, I'm just going to.

release an AI-girlfriend. product for 11-year-olds and. this other. AI that might teach terrorists. to make bioweapons. And also, I'm going to release this thing. called ‘superintelligence’ tonight. that I don't know how to control”. You, from the government, would be forced. to tell me. “that's actually all legal. So go ahead with that. But just promise me no sandwiches”. Okay, the thing is, a lot of what you're saying. is familiar to me. because I've heard the. heads of AI labs. saying the same thing.

Do you believe. that they believe. what they're saying? Because they tell me. that they also think. you should plan for safety. You shouldn't go full speed ahead. Deep down I believe. they’re all well-meaning people, but as the saying goes, show me the incentives. and I’ll show you the outcome. There used to be a product. called something, some soothing syrup in America, which was sold to parents. so they could get their kids. to sleep better. And it contained so much opioids.

that a lot of kids. never woke up after that. And in Germany. they sold this product. called thalidomide. that caused. thousands of German babies. to be born without arms or legs. Was that because. the CEOs of those companies. were ill-meaning? I don't think so. But there was just a lot. of commercial pressure. to get the products out fast, not get scooped by the competition. And as a result. there was enough. anger and political will. to create the. to create the. Food and Drug Administration. and the EMA in Europe.

and so on. to change the incentives. And now the same kind of CEOs, even though they are under. the same shareholder pressure, do good things. rather than bad things. So I think. the greatest blame. doesn't fall on CEOs. I think it falls on. our government for not. treating AI like. any other powerful industry. with binding safety standards. The one thing I do blame. the CEOs for actually. is rather that they haven't. told their lobbyists. to go push for common-sense.

guardrails and safeguards. because that they could totally do.