I think it would be very difficult to broker an international agreement, to hit pause on AI development in a way that would actually be verifiable. I think that would be close to impossible.
Jason Matheny
President and chief executive officer of the RAND Corporation
Asked at an April 2023 Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing whether other countries could be expected to pause AI development, Jason Matheny said it would be very difficult to broker an international agreement to hit pause on AI development in a way that would actually be verifiable, and that he thought that would be close to impossible.
President and Chief Executive Officer, RAND Corporation; Commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial IntelligenceApril 19, 2023U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity hearing on AI and machine-learning applications for Department of Defense operations
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Surrounding words
Dr. Matheny, I would like to start with you. Dr. Matheny. Thanks, Senator Rounds. I think it would be very difficult to broker an international agreement, to hit pause on AI development in a way that would actually be verifiable. I think that would be close to impossible. I think we are taking appropriate first steps to create a governance system in which we could at least delay China's access, for example, to very high-performance computing thanks to the October 2022 export controls on AI chips
What this quote does not say
- This is a policy-feasibility qualification, not a denial or walk-back of the underlying AI-risk claims.
- The answer concerns an international pause agreement and should not be generalized to every slowdown, moratorium, or regulatory intervention.
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