Former and current employees of OpenAI and Google have raised concerns about a culture of secrecy surrounding the potential risks of advanced AI within AI companies. The group, who wrote a letter titled “A right to warn about advanced artificial intelligence”, argue that these companies prioritize their financial gains over safety, and use punitive confidentiality agreements to deter employees from raising safety concerns. The letter stresses the need for a greater commitment from AI companies, particularly in the absence of regulatory guidelines on unknown AI risks.
The group argues that traditional whistleblower protections are poorly equipped to manage the issues in question as their focus is typically on illegal activities, whereas many of the AI risks are not yet regulated. The writers of the letter demand four commitments from AI companies. These include refusing to enter or enforce agreements that discourage criticism of the company’s safety measures and withholding financial benefits to employees; providing an anonymous route for employees to report risk-related issues to the company’s board or other regulatory bodies; fostering a culture of open criticism that allows employees to publicize risk-related concerns without revealing intellectual property; and ensuring no retribution is issued against current or former employees who share confidential information regarding hazards when all other routes are exhausted.
Many of the letter’s signatories are self-identified effective altruists. Influential figures such as Daniel Kokotajlo and William Saunders, both former OpenAI researchers and signatories of the letter, personally express fears that a lack of effective risk management within AI companies could lead to dire consequences. However, their criticisms are not random online condemnations. They are from notable figures in the AI sector who have been previously entrusted by companies like OpenAI and Google to create the cutting-edge AI tech that is now causing worry. Their main plea to AI companies is the right to voice out their concerns without workplace implications. Their goal is to warn others of the potential dangers they have noticed.
