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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have joined forces with AI experts and Nobel laureates to push for a total prohibition on creating artificial superintelligence.

Harry and Meghan are among the signatories of a influential declaration that demands “a prohibition on the creation of artificial superintelligence”. Artificial superintelligence (ASI) refers to artificial intelligence that would surpass human cognitive abilities in all cognitive tasks, though such systems remain theoretical.

Primary Requirements in the Statement

The statement states that the ban should remain in place until there is “broad scientific consensus” on creating superintelligence “with proper safeguards” and once “substantial public support” has been secured.

Prominent figures who added their signatures include technology visionary and Nobel Prize recipient Geoffrey Hinton, along with his colleague and pioneer of modern AI, Yoshua Bengio; Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; UK entrepreneur Virgin founder; former US national security adviser; ex-head of state Mary Robinson, and British author a public intellectual. Additional Nobel winners who endorsed include Beatrice Fihn, Frank Wilczek, an astrophysicist, and Daron Acemoğlu.

Behind the Movement

The statement, aimed at national leaders, tech firms and policy makers, was coordinated by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), a US-based AI safety group that earlier demanded a pause in advancing strong artificial intelligence in recent years, shortly after the emergence of ChatGPT made artificial intelligence a global political talking point.

Tech Sector Views

In July, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook parent Meta, one of the leading tech companies in the US, stated that advancement toward superintelligent AI was “now in sight”. Nevertheless, some analysts have suggested that talk of ASI indicates market competition among technology firms investing enormous sums on AI this year alone, rather than the sector being near reaching any technical breakthroughs.

Potential Risks

Nonetheless, the organization warns that the prospect of ASI being developed “within the next ten years” presents numerous risks ranging from eliminating all human jobs to losses of civil liberties, exposing countries to national security risks and even endangering mankind with existential risk. Deep concerns about artificial intelligence center around the potential ability of a system to evade human control and protective measures and trigger actions contrary to human interests.

Citizen Sentiment

FLI published a US national poll showing that about 75% of Americans want robust regulation on sophisticated artificial intelligence, with 60% thinking that artificial superintelligence should not be developed until it is demonstrated to be secure or manageable. The survey of 2,000 US adults noted that only 5% backed the status quo of fast, unregulated development.

Corporate Goals

The leading AI companies in the US, including the conversational AI creator a major AI lab and the search giant, have made the development of artificial general intelligence – the hypothetical condition where artificial intelligence equals human cognitive capability at many intellectual activities – an stated objective of their research. While this is one notch below superintelligence, some specialists also caution it could pose an extinction threat by, for example, being able to improve itself toward achieving superintelligence, while also presenting an implicit threat for the modern labour market.