Turing Award Duo Warn: AI Needs Caution, Not Just Innovation

Instead of focusing on their achievement, they used the moment to express concerns about how artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed and released without enough safety measures.

Their work in the late 1970s laid the foundation for reinforcement learning, a method where AI improves by learning from successes and mistakes. Their 1998 book, Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction, became a key resource in the field and has been widely referenced by researchers.

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During the award announcement, Barto and Sutton criticized AI companies for prioritizing business goals over responsible development. Barto told The Financial Times:

Releasing software to millions of people without safeguards is not good engineering practice.

He argued that other fields of engineering focus on minimizing risks, but AI companies are not following the same approach.

Despite their concerns, they believe AI can benefit society if it is developed with proper caution. In an interview with Axios, Barto acknowledged that AI could bring positive changes if managed carefully.

Sutton also discussed artificial general intelligence (AGI), suggesting that in the future, intelligent machines could exist without the need for biological evolution.

Furthermore, ACM President Yannis Ioannidis praised their achievement, saying, “Barto and Sutton’s work demonstrates the immense potential of applying a multidisciplinary approach to longstanding challenges in our field”.

Meanwhile, the US and UK recently refused to sign an international AI development agreement at a summit in Paris. Why? Read the full story.