Evolutionary Biologist Calls for a Pause on AI Development

Holly Elmore, director of PauseAI US, warns that we are repeating the mistakes of the past by engaging with high-stakes technologies we do not fully understand.

In the early 20th century, factory workers, later known as the "Radium Girls," were hired to paint watch dials with radium-based luminous paint. They were instructed to keep their brushes sharp by shaping them with their lips, leading to severe illnesses from chronic radium exposure.

A Stark Warning for Today

For Holly Elmore, this tragedy serves as a stark warning for our current era. In a talk she gave on December 9 as part of the Berkeley AI Risk Speaker Series, she argues that we are repeating this mistake by assuming we can safely engage with technology we do not fully understand.

Elmore warns that this approach is akin to clearing a minefield by simply walking through it. As AI capabilities expand, the likelihood of accidents increases, and these could be catastrophic.

Risks and Consequences

• Automated assembly of bioweapons
• Unpredictable disruptions to social and environmental systems

She contends that experiments with such high stakes are too dangerous to continue without a pause. "The scale of the danger could really cripple civilization or cause extinction," she states.

Elmore advocates for a global pause on advanced AI development to avert potential catastrophic consequences.