Why Internet godfather Ron Conway wants to discuss responsible AI

Valley legend and super investor Ron Conway is reportedly planning a meeting of leading influencers in the burgeoning AI industry to talk about how to develop AI systems without stumbling into potentially catastrophic unintended consequences. 

Axios’s report of the meeting comes just a week after hundreds of tech and scientific community members signed a letter calling for a “pause” in the development of generative AI systems. Meeting attendees will reportedly discuss “best practices” in responsible AI development, as well as “public policy frameworks and standards.”

Conway, who was among the first to zero in on the internet as an investment opportunity, has reportedly invited leaders from some of the most active and influential companies within the generative AI space. These include Google, Microsoft, Stability AI, Nvidia, Hugging Face, and Anthropic. Apple also has reportedly been invited to participate.

Much of the public gained its first exposure to, and understanding of, generative AI via OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which launched late last year. Since then, a generative AI arms race has ensued among the large tech companies, as they have realized that generative AI models may serve as a major computing platform for both individuals and businesses. As more money is invested in developing new models, tech companies are less likely to share knowledge about both the promise and dangers they encounter during their R&D. So, many in industry and policy circles have now begun thinking seriously about the speed at which generative AI models are improving, and about the potentially world-changing ways they may be deployed in the future. Many want to slow the headlong rush into that murky future—a future driven by too much capitalist fear/greed and not enough humanitarian caution. 

The tech industry has not heard such a serious call for responsible self-government in a long time, if ever. That’s partly because there may be no higher authority that can reasonably be expected to oversee its development of AI. U.S. lawmakers, after largely failing to protect citizens from the abuses of social networks, now struggle to understand AI technology. The United States lags behind Europe in its readiness to pass meaningful and durable regulations for AI development. 

Conway’s SV Angel investment firm lists investments in 11 AI companies, including Hugging Face, Covariant, and Applied Intuition.