Hassan Taher: Is AI Regulation Feasible?

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In the last two decades, the world has witnessed many advancements, but perhaps none so startlingly rapid or undeniably profound as those that have taken place in the field of artificial intelligence.

Google and other tech giants have played a key role in this progression by spending billions of dollars on machine learning and deep learning projects and redesigning their corporate infrastructure. Thanks to their initiatives and expenditures, these firms have been able to secure industry-leading positions in the AI tool marketplace by leveraging proprietary technologies and dedicated platforms such as TensorFlow, Google Cloud AI, and AutoML. Among other advantages, this has enabled them to better satisfy their customers' needs.

"Yet," observed AI expert Hassan Taher, "as AI continues to flourish, concerns about its regulation and potential risks arise. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder, likened the idea of regulating AI to 'magical thinking.' Drawing on his extensive interactions with global politicians, Wales contends that there's often a lack of nuanced understanding of technology and its broader implications."

AI industry observer and author Taher has taken a keen interest in the actions and reactions (and occasional willful inactions) on the part of Google and other companies as they relate to AI. Hailing from Beaumont, Texas, Taher started publishing articles about AI for a variety of technical magazines soon after graduating from the University of North Texas. Taher's first book, The Rise of Intelligent Machines, was an enormous success, and it catapulted him to the forefront of the AI industry almost immediately upon its release. Since that time, Taher has written a number of other books about AI, including AI and Ethics: Navigating the Moral Maze and The Future of Work in an AI-Powered World.

Hassan Taher: 'The Risks are Undeniably Vast'

Hassan Taher points out the recent action taken by the United Nations, which committed to exploring the hot topic of AI legislation. These efforts were met with a substantial degree of doubt and hostility when they were first announced. But Taher and other observers believe global citizens owe a debt of gratitude to the secretary general of the U.N., António Guterres. Said Taher, "From AI-powered cyberattacks to AI's potential role in nuclear warfare, the risks are undeniably vast. Guterres' initiative to establish a High-Level Advisory Body for Artificial Intelligence promises to deliver an amalgamation of perspectives, from governmental to academic, to understand the feasible global regulations."

Many people had high hopes that this initial gathering, which took place in July 2023, would, at the very least, result in an enlightening dialogue between the world's most powerful nations on the subject of AI (by many accounts, it did, but it also ignited some heated words between the U.S. and China).

The initiative that's been taken by Guterres to establish the U.N. High-Level Advisory Body for Artificial Intelligence promises to deliver an amalgamation of opinions on what types of global standards for AI could be realistically practicable. These opinions will likely range from those held by different national governments to those promulgated by specific academic institutions.

Nonetheless, this type of activity raises the question of whether or not it's realistically possible to enforce any standards or regulations once they've been established.

Other Authorities Weigh In

A seasoned expert by the name of Pierre Haren, who spent a considerable amount of time working at IBM and was involved with the Watson supercomputing project there, has previously voiced pessimism regarding the subject of AI. On the one hand, Haren has shared his excitement for the generative AI technology that enables complex AI capabilities, such as ChatGPT, which can produce content and draw high-level comparisons.

On the other hand, he's dropped hints that there are major issues not only with AI itself but also with the difficulty of obtaining a universal consensus on how it should be regulated. 

Some AI enthusiasts, such as Robert Opp - the chief digital officer of the U.N. Development Programme - have demonstrated their support for the idea that the International Civil Aviation Organization could serve as a model for a regulatory framework governing AI. The ICAO is an agency that monitors and ensures the smooth and secure functioning of the global civil aviation system. In spite of the fact that Opp recognizes the unrivaled advantages that AI has in some fields - such as satellite imaging for agricultural purposes - he nevertheless has a keen awareness of the potential drawbacks of the technology, and he's underscored the need for implementing robust AI controls by an international body.

By contrast, Wales presents a distinctly alternative viewpoint. In relation to discussions regarding AI regulation, he warns against placing an unhealthy amount of trust in colossal technology enterprises such as Google. Wales believes that trying to administrate such a massive ecosystem could be a hopeless endeavor analogous to that of the Greek mythical figure Sisyphus due to the decentralized nature of AI development, which sees an endless number of developers embracing open-source AI software.

Wales points out that the breadth of AI spans a domain that's enormous in scope, particularly wide-ranging in makeup, and exceptionally difficult to navigate. Even if tech giants like Google are helping to pave the way, the individuals who are really contributing to the AI mosaic are the larger community of software developers, business owners, and ordinary everyday users.

As Hassan Taher said, "The conversation on AI regulation isn't merely about curbing potential threats but ensuring we harness its immense potential without stifling innovation. Whether through a U.N.-led initiative or industry self-regulation, the journey to effective AI governance promises to be intricate and multifaceted." The road to successful governance of AI will likely be difficult and fraught with complexity, regardless of whether it's achieved via an effort headed by the U.N. (or another international body) or by self-regulation by private enterprises.