Mark Zuckerberg Unveils Ambitious Vision for Human-Level AI Development

Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, highlighted the company’s long-term vision for AGI, stressing the necessity for significant advancements in reasoning, planning, coding, memory, and other cognitive capacities.

Meta, formerly Facebook, has joined the race among tech giants to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a theoretical advancement in AI aiming to match or exceed human intelligence. 

Despite concerns from ethicists, politicians, and AI experts, AGI has become a sought-after goal, with tech giants like Google and OpenAI considering it a central objective. In a video post on Facebook, Zuckerberg noted that the next generation of tech services would necessitate the development of full general intelligence.

Meta’s approach to AGI stands apart distinctly from that of its rivals, showcasing a notable difference in vision and strategy.

Notably, Zuckerberg announced Meta’s intention to make the technology open source, making it accessible for use and modification by the public. While this move aims to increase availability, it has raised concerns about the potential misuse of powerful technology.

Zuckerberg’s Ethical Response at Meta

Wendy Hall, a UK-based computer scientist and UN AI advisory body member, expressed concern over the idea of open source AGI, calling it really very scary. She criticized Meta for suggesting such an approach, emphasizing the potential harm if the technology falls into the wrong hands.

Users on the social media platform X also criticized AGI’s ethically dubious energy consumption requirements. Concerns were raised about the technology’s potential in criminal hands and the lack of legal regulation. Critics argued that releasing open source AGI without regulation could lead to significant damage.

In response, Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, praised the rapid progress in AI development facilitated by open research practices. 

Meanwhile, Meta is building an extensive infrastructure to support its open source AGI initiatives, expecting to own nearly 600,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) by the end of 2024.

While Australia has recently taken steps towards regulating AI, adopting a risk-based approach, Meta has not provided a specific timeframe for its AGI development plans, leaving the tech world eagerly anticipating further updates from the social media giant.