People want to be confident AI will remain under human control: Microsoft President Brad Smith

Microsoft President Brad Smith stressed on the need for "real clarity" around goals and principles of AI regulation.

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Microsoft President Brad Smith addresses the session on 'Preparing the World on Global Cyber Security Risks' during the B20 Summit 2023, in New Delhi. (Mohd Zakir)

Microsoft has partnered Sam Altman led OpenAI, a company that was famously funded by billionaire Elon Musk, to make rapid strides in the field of artificial intelligence. The company has taken up the cudgels against other tech majors including the likes of Google and Meta Platforms. This puts the company's president, Brad Smith, in the perfect position to speak on the issue that has divided the globe down the middle about its massive potential for good as well as an equal potential to do harm to humanity.

Speaking at the B20 Summit India 2023 in New Delhi, Microsoft President Brad Smith on Friday stressed on the need for "real clarity" around goals and principles of AI regulation. Making his company's stance clear, he called for a "regulatory blueprint" that will require action at the private, national and global levels.

People want to be confident that this new technology, AI, will remain under human control, he said.

"They have seen too many science fiction movies that turned out the other way. And as we are creating what feels like part of science fiction, we need companies and regulator to focus on that," Smith said.

Speaking at session on 'AI for Business and Societies: Opportunities and Regulations', Smith, who is also the Vice Chair of Microsoft, emphasised on the need to create regulatory blueprint by governments and private sectors around the world.

"That means some of these principles will get applied at application-layer, some at model-layer and some at cloud- or data centre-layer," PTI quoted him as saying.

That blueprint will have to be implemented in part by ensuring that those who are using AI in business need to know who their customers are, and how it is being used.

"It means that there is real focus on knowing what cloud it is being deployed, and focus on knowing content that is being created and especially if it is being created by AI," he said.