AI systems have made remarkable progress over the past decade. Yet as AI systems become more capable, they have started to raise serious safety co

NeuroAI for AI Safety

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2024-12-02 18:30:07

AI systems have made remarkable progress over the past decade. Yet as AI systems become more capable, they have started to raise serious safety concerns. Today's AI systems face issues around bias, environmental impact, and surveillance. Tomorrow's more capable, autonomous AI systems could pose even greater challenges – from misuse by malicious actors to the possibility of systems pursuing harmful objectives at scale.

As we race to develop solutions to these challenges, we already have a blueprint for a flexible and safer intelligence: the human brain. We've evolved sophisticated mechanisms for safe exploration, graceful handling of novel situations, and cooperation. Understanding and reverse-engineering these neural mechanisms could be key to developing AI systems that are aligned with human values.

The human brain might seem like a counterintuitive model for developing safe AI systems: we engage in war, exhibit systematic biases, and often fall short of our lofty ambitions. However, our brains have specific properties that are worth emulating from an AI safety perspective. What we propose is a selective approach to studying the brain as a blueprint for safe AI systems.