Los Alamos Labs, OpenAI Against Biological Threats
On Wednesday, OpenAI and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) announced the collaboration to examine how to leverage the AI fight of biological threats created by the non-expert adoption of such intelligent technology.
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a Mexican company that was part of the Manhattan Project and was established during the World War II and was responsible for the development of the atomic bomb with Robert Oppenheimer. The Mexican company as described this partnership as a “first of its kind” study related to AI biosecurity and how AI can be used in laboratory settings.
Contradictory Purposes
When it came to the announcement of this partnership, both companies focused on different key points, with OpenAI highlighting the potential of using AI safely when conducting bioscientific research in labs. As for Los Alamos, the lab emphasized the risks of such technology, mentioning that previous research showed that ChatGPT could unintentionally generate information that helps in the development of biological threats.
People are often worried that AI could reach a very advanced level or even advanced general intelligence (AGI), which might put humanity at risk. However, the real danger lies in the use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT in a manner that leads to the creation of bioweapons.
In a statement published on its website, LANL stated, “AI-enabled biological threats could pose a significant risk, but existing work has not assessed how multimodal, frontier models could lower the barrier of entry for non-experts to create a biological threat.”
This shows that Los Alamos gives a high importance to the risk of AI, by describing it as a threat. In contrast the AI company draws attention to the national security risks if its technology was misused.
For the Sake of Responsible Use
Erick LeBrun, a research scientist at Los Alamos, stated that although AI capabilities are limitless, there is still a significant need to deeply understand the risks as well as the potential of AI being misused, mainly regarding biological threats. LeBrun also emphasized that the partnership with AI is crucial for the development of a framework for the assessment of current and future AI models, aiming to ensure their responsible advancement and use.
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