They set out their demands in an open letter published on Thursday by The Elders organization (founded by — Branson and former South African President Nelson Mandela).
As noted by CNBC, the message calls for decisive action against the escalating dangers of the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and unruly AI. World leaders are asked to adopt a long-term strategy and show «the determination to solve problems, not just manage them, the wisdom to make decisions based on scientific evidence and reason, and the humility to listen to all concerned».
The signatories demand urgent multilateral action, including funding the transition away from fossil fuels, signing a fair pandemic treaty, restarting nuclear weapons negotiations, and building the global governance necessary to make AI a «force for good».
The letter was also published with the support of the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn that seeks to direct transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence to benefit life and protect against large-scale risks. Among the signatories, in addition to the billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Charles Oppenheimer, grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer, one can also see the name of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Tegmark says that The Elders wanted to convey that while technology itself is not «evil», it remains a «tool» that can lead to dire consequences if it is developed quickly «in the wrong hands».
«The old strategy of focusing on efficient use [when it comes to new technologies] has always been to learn from mistakes», — Tegmark told CNBC. «We invented the automobile, then we learned from our mistakes and invented the seat belt, the traffic light and the speed limit».
The letter was published just ahead of the Munich Security Conference, where government officials, military leaders and diplomats will discuss international security amid escalating global armed conflicts, including the wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas. Tegmark will attend the event to defend the content of the letter.
Last year, the Institute for the Future of Life also published an open letter that supported by Tesla boss Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and which called on leading AI labs such as OpenAI to stop training AI models more powerful than GPT-4 — the company’s currently most advanced model. Otherwise, the signatories fear a «loss of control» over civilization that could lead to massive job destruction.