 | |
| Formation | May 2023; 2 years ago (2023-05) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Joep Meindertsma |
| Founded at | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Type | Advocacy group,Nonprofit |
| Purpose | Mitigating theexistential risk from artificial general intelligence and otherrisks of advanced artificial intelligence |
Region | International |
| Website | pauseai.info |
PauseAI is a globalpolitical movement founded in theNetherlands with the stated aim of achieving global coordination to stop the development of more powerful generalartificial intelligence systems, at least until it is known how to build them safely, and keep them under democratic control.[1] The movement was established inUtrecht in May 2023 by software entrepreneur Joep Meindertsma.[2][3][4]
PauseAI's stated goal is to "implement a temporary pause on the training of the most powerful general AI systems". Their website lists some proposed steps to achieve this goal:[1]
During the late 2010s and early 2020s, a rapid improvement in the capabilities of artificial intelligence models known as theAI boom was underway, which included the release oflarge language modelGPT-3, its more powerful successorGPT-4, and image generation modelsMidjourney andDALL-E. This led to an increased concern about the risks of advanced AI, causing theFuture of Life Institute to release anopen letter calling for "all AI labs to immediately pause for at least six months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4". The letter was signed by thousands of AI researchers and industry CEOs such asYoshua Bengio,Stuart Russell, andElon Musk.[5][6][7]
Founder Joep Meindertsma first became worried about theexistential risk from artificial general intelligence after reading philosopherNick Bostrom's 2014 bookSuperintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. He founded PauseAI in May 2023, putting his job as the CEO of a software firm on hold. Meindertsma claimed the rate of progress inAI alignment research is lagging behind the progress in AI capabilities, and said "there is a chance that we are facing extinction in a short frame of time". As such, he felt an urge to organise people to act.[3][8][4]
PauseAI's first public action was to protest in front ofMicrosoft'sBrussels lobbying office in May 2023 during an event on artificial intelligence.[4] In November of the same year, they protested outside the inauguralAI Safety Summit atBletchley Park.[9] The Bletchley Declaration that was signed at the summit, which acknowledged the potential for catastrophic risks stemming from AI, was perceived by Meindertsma to be a small first step. But, he argued "binding international treaties" are needed. He mentioned theMontreal Protocol and treatiesbanning blinding laser weapons as examples of previous successful global agreements.[3]
In February 2024, members of PauseAI gathered outsideOpenAI's headquarters inSan Francisco, in part due to OpenAI changing its usage policy that prohibited the use of its models for military purposes.[10]
On 13 May 2024, protests were held across thirteen countries before theAI Seoul Summit, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Australia, and Norway. Meindertserma said that those attending the summit "need to realize that they are the only ones who have the power to stop this race". Protesters in San Francisco held signs reading "When in doubt, pause", and "Quit your job at OpenAI. Trust your conscience".[11][12][3][13]Jan Leike, head of the "superalignment" team at OpenAI, resigned two days later due to his belief that "safety culture and processes [had] taken a backseat to shiny products".[14]
