Meta's chief AI expert has spoken out against regulating the technology because it is "not smart enough"

Meta's chief artificial intelligence officer Yann LeCun said that the current level of AI development is too low to need to be regulated.

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LeCun tried to dispel common fears about artificial intelligence and expressed a libertarian stance against its regulation. The researcher compared current attempts to restrict AI to a hypothetical regulation of the early internet.

LeCun believes that any restrictions at present would affect systems that barely outperform cats in their ability to learn. He called the idea of currently regulating AI "counterproductive."

LeCun's stance is at odds with the views of Geoffrey Hinton, who has argued in favour of creating regulations on the use of the technology. He believes that AI based on language models could be detrimental to humanity.

LeCun was sceptical of Hinton's concerns. He believes that most people fantasise too much about scenarios like The Terminator, where AI is superior to humans. In fact, according to LeCun, current models are incapable of real planning and reasoning.

The researcher called the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI) overly optimistic. According to him, fundamental breakthroughs in science are needed to create such an AI.

However, LeCun admitted that the technology could surpass humans in intelligence in the future. But he believes that rather than a threat, AI will help people solve serious problems, such as curing cancer or fighting climate change.

Source: Financial Times