Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times,

Hundreds of people, from conservative commentators to prominent tech executives, have signed a letter seeking a ban on "the development of superintelligence."

This year, leading technology firms such as Google, Meta Platforms, and OpenAI have accelerated efforts to build artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of outperforming humans across a broad spectrum of elementary and complex tasks.

A growing chorus of prominent people thinks that it is time to hit the brakes—at least temporarily.

The letter, put together by the Future of Life Institute, calls for a ban on advancing superintelligent AI until there is public demand and science charts a safe path for the technology.

"We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and strong public buy-in," reads the brief statement, released on Oct. 22.

The Future of Life Institute has spent the past decade sounding the alarm over the existential risks posed by advanced AI. Its petition has drawn thousands of signatures and support from hundreds of high-profile figures aligned with the group's mission, including AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton.

Bengio said AI systems could outperform most individuals in various cognitive tasks in the next few years. While they will bring advancements, they could also "carry significant risks," Bengio wrote in a personal note released with the letter.