Reid Hoffman says AI research should continue
Speaking at POLITICO’s Decoded Summit in Washington on September 16, Hoffman pushed back against what he described as extreme warnings about AI and said many of the risks can be controlled.
“I actually think most of that stuff, if you actually really think about it, is so like remote and controllable that it is mostly where people are kind of like, ‘Look at me, I’m Cassandra, I’m saying it’s the end of time,’” Hoffman said. During the summit, Reid Hoffman said there are reasons to keep developing frontier AI, including its potential role in dealing with biosecurity and cybersecurity risks. “I don’t think that slowing down is important, because when you get to the defense against biorisk, the defense against cyber risk, and creating economic prosperity is a reason, I think, to keep going,” he said. At the same time, Hoffman said AI companies need to manage some risks as their systems become more capable. One area Hoffman said needs attention is recursive self-improvement.
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and a prominent supporter of Democratic causes, does not share the view that AI is on a path to kill everyone. This refers to AI systems becoming capable of improving themselves and potentially helping create more capable successors. Some researchers and AI workers have raised concerns that this could lead to rapid growth that becomes difficult to control.
Reid Hoffman said “it’s really important” for frontier AI companies to properly manage this process. Last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on frontier AI labs to “pace” their development. Reid Hoffman said it is reasonable to question why leading AI companies would call for a slowdown while they are ahead in the field. “You’re in the lead, you can slow down anytime you like,” he said. “AI has been marketed horribly to the American people,” Hoffman said.
His comments came after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon raised concerns about the industry’s race toward recursive self-improvement. Reid Hoffman later described Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s calls for greater care around AI development as steps “in the right direction. He also criticised how AI has been presented to the public. He argued that the discussion often focuses on either developing AI as quickly as possible or stopping it, while giving less attention to how the technology can provide practical benefits in everyday life. Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.