IMF chief says AI risks may exceed opportunities without safeguards and ethical framework
QQQ•IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said AI’s risks may exceed its opportunities without safeguards and an ethical framework. She called for digital infrastructure, electricity and adequate regulation, while Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark backed common-sense standards.
1. Safeguards and preconditions
Georgieva said AI is already strengthening the global economy but could deliver negative shocks if it fails to produce major productivity gains as quickly as hoped. She said access to digital infrastructure and electricity, as well as adequate regulation, are needed for people everywhere to benefit.
2. Standards and oversight
Georgieva said industry self-regulation should include engagement with society and involvement from countries with major AI sectors, including the US, China and India. Clark said standards were possible and already emerging through early European Union policy frameworks and voluntary US commitments, but he did not believe oversight should be completely voluntary. Anthropic tests its systems, publishes test details and has brought in third-party evaluators to review data, he said.
3. Debate over AI’s name
US Treasury Undersecretary Erin Browne said the IMF should give more weight to AI’s potential economic opportunities, which the US government is calling “super intelligence.” She said Washington was discussing the new term with other IMF shareholders for a joint statement. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he was more optimistic than a month earlier about countries aligning on AI testing standards.
