Navigating the Promise and Peril of AI Technology

The potential trajectory of AI technology hinges on the incentives that drive its advancement, often favoring rapid growth over inherent safety. Companies focused on market dominance can risk repeating historical failures experienced with social media, where unsophisticated algorithms caused widespread issues due to misalignment. To address foreseeable dangers, a framework is proposed that would require major AI firms to dedicate a significant portion of their computing resources to assess and forecast risks, establishing accountability for failing to mitigate those harms. This could be complemented by graduated sanctions, possibly through a compute tax, to align corporate incentives with the imperative of societal safety.