Davos 2024: No one wants AI used to wage unjust war: Andrew Ng on OpenAI's policy shift

(L-R) Andrew Ng, Moneycontrol's Chandra Srikanth, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda at WEF2024 in Davos

Days after ChatGPT maker OpenAI was found to have deleted a provision in its usage policy forbidding its technology from being used in war, top artificial intelligence expert Andrew Ng said that AI should not be used to wage an 'unjust war'.

“I think none of us want to ever see AI used to wage an unjust war. And seeing what's happened with Russia's attack on Ukraine, I feel like there are unfortunate things already being done with even older generations of AI technologies,” the former head of Google Brain told Moneycontrol at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“No one wants war. And I feel like there is an important need to protect certain values. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a military to do that,” he added.

Ng was reacting to OpenAI’s decision to change its usage language that has kicked up a controversy over the past few days.

For instance, India’s minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasehar said on X over the weekend ,“This is confirmation that AI can and will be used for Military purposes. Even further validates India’s approach to regulation of AI thru the clear prism/conditions of Safety & Trust and Accountability.”

Last month, India and 27 other countries adopted a New Delhi declaration on artificial intelligence that emphasises on increasing collaboration, inclusion and developing a governance framework on AI.

Over the next few months, the Indian government will work with other countries, and hold another GPAI (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence) meeting next year to discuss the AI governance framework.

However, speaking at Davos, Ng cautioned that fears over AI technology are being overblown.

“I do see across many governments around the world that there's a risk of over regulation. There's a lot of hype and fear about AI. And while I would love to have good regulation against risky applications, I'm also seeing a lot of regulation that I think runs the risk of stifling the technology and this will be to the detriment of everyone,” he said.