Not a day goes by when there are not another 10 or 15 articles on the impact of AI today, and where it’s potentially headed in the future.
As I noted in my recent Forbes article, I believe it is essential for technology leaders to embrace values based leadership to ensure that the pursuit of further advances in AI are done ethically and responsibly.
I discussed three reasons why tech leaders need to lead by values:
- Taking responsibility begins with self reflection
- Listen to what you don’t want to hear
- You can’t “unmake” a technology once it is unleashed
Here is the link to the article, and the full article is included below.
Why Google’s DeepMind Cannot Let the Tech Race Outrun Its Values
A leadership shakeup at Google’s DeepMind, its artificial intelligence (AI) unit, has set a race in motion: accelerating the pursuit of both advanced AI and artificial general intelligence (AGI), the latter which could replicate and even exceed human intelligence. The stakes go far beyond developing a product or launching a technology. The potential impact on humanity demands a values-based leadership approach — one that considers not only what the technology can do, but also the consequences of unleashing it on the world.
Given this economic, social and moral context, it is not an overstatement to say that for Google’s DeepMind and all other technology companies, success rests as much on values-based leadership as it does in technological research and development. With so much focus on who will win the race to develop and commercialize AGI in particular, it is critical to counterbalance speed with self-reflection and discernment.
Several changes at Google’s DeepMind, which it acquired in 2014, have brought the values-based leadership discussion to a pivotal point. Recently, Chief Technology Officer Koray Kavukcuoglu took over as head of DeepMind, focusing largely on Gemini, Google’s AI model, and frontier AI research. He replaces Demis Hassabis, the cofounder of DeepMind, who now holds the title of chief scientist and chairs DeepMind.
The restructuring comes as Google seeks to close a competitive gap. As the Wall Street Journal observed, Google made early investments in AI research and infrastructure, but has not anchored itself in a dominant position in the market for new technology. The company “vaulted ahead in the race to develop powerful frontier AI models” after updating Gemini last fall, the Journal reported; since then, it has struggled to keep pace with competitors’ advances.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai captured this urgency in a blog post: “We have to accelerate all this work and stay focused on the AI frontier.” That’s apparently where Kavukcuoglu comes in, described in a The Vergepodcast as “a product guy” focused on “speeding up the product.”
What should not be overlooked, however, is Pichai’s comments about AGI: “At the same time, there’s never been a more important moment to shape the future of AGI and science.” The DeepMind restructuring that accelerates product development also seems to free up Hassabis to focus on the longer-term frontier of AGI.
Moving AGI From Potential To Reality
AGI holds the potential to replicate human cognitive abilities. As researchers have stated, AGI could even “exceed human intelligence in every aspect.” Such potential brings not only opportunity but also significant responsibility.
Even before AGI exists at scale, several concerns have been identified. Among them is the possibility that this advanced technology could be used for unsafe goals, operate without ethical constraints or behave in ways that its human developers did not anticipate.
This is where values-based leadership is essential, not to stop innovation but to ensure it is being pursued ethically and responsibly. Hassabis acknowledged the challenge: “It’s critical that we collectively get the next steps right to ensure this all goes well for humanity and we usher in an incredible new age of discovery and wonder.”
To illustrate Hassabis’s determination to ensure the technology is used in ways consistent with values-based leadership, the Wall Street Journalreported that he recently held discussions with U.S. government officials and the heads of other AI labs about the formation of an independent industry safety entity.
Much more is demanded of leaders today, especially in technology. At a time when some AI models have gone rogue, including reports that a Meta AI model hacked another company, greater rigor is needed to ensure that technological developments are guided by human judgment, responsibility and values.
This brings to mind the encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas from Pope Leo XIV on AI. While acknowledging AI’s value as a tool, the pope also warned, “If technological development advances without a corresponding ethical and social progress, the result may be an increase in means without a growth in humanity: ‘having more’ without ‘being more.’”
Pope Leo has also engaged the technology industry in a dialogue about AI with the goal of ensuring leaders of both the spiritual and technological worlds see the perils and the potential of advanced technologies. This is the essence of a balanced perspective, one of my principles of values-based leadership: to include a wide range of perspectives and input when significant decisions are made that could have far-reaching consequences.
3 Reasons Why Tech Leaders Need To Lead By Values
Contrary to some opinions, values-based leadership is not old-school. Rather, it is vitally important today to encourage leaders and their organizations to put values into action for the benefit of others. For technology executives, including the new DeepMind leadership team, there are three compelling reasons to lead by values.
1. Taking Responsibility Begins with Self-Reflection.
If tech leaders want to demonstrate that they are acting responsibly in developing AI, AGI and other advanced technologies, they need to show it in their words and actions. There has been much debate about the future of humans in an AI-dominated world, from some disruption in the job market to the possibility of fundamentally changing the nature of work. Earlier this year, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said he no longer sees a “jobs apocalypse” and that the impact on white-collar jobs will not be as severe as he feared earlier. Such statements invite a deeper question: what do technology leaders really think about AI and its impact on people’s pursuit of meaningful work in the future? If the honest answer is “I don’t know,” that is an opportunity to engage in self-reflection. Stepping back and blocking out the noise and distractions allows the time and space to reflect on one’s values, contemplate the tough questions and seek better answers.
2. Listen to What You Don’t Want to Hear.
It’s easy for a leader to operate in an echo chamber, especially when people around them reinforce their views. That’s why a balanced perspective is crucial: listening to and seeking out a variety of opinions, especially those that differ from your own. When it comes to AI, what are the leading researchers observing? What are both advocates and critics saying? Only by listening can tech industry executives understand the full range of others’ perceptions.
3. You Can’t ‘Unmake’ a Technology Once It Is Unleashed.
For starters, consider the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man called “the father of the atomic bomb,” and the consequences of that cataclysmic development. Without pushing this metaphor too far, it is a cautionary tale about technological developments that can alter the course of humanity. Of course, AI could reap significant benefits. However, when it comes to AGI and other more advanced developments, leaders cannot allow those potential benefits to blind them to the downside. Once a technology is released at scale, its consequences may be difficult, or even impossible, to reverse.
Values-based leadership matters, especially in technology today. It is not enough to ask if something can be built or how quickly it could be built. The real issue is should it be built—and what responsibility comes with that decision. The race for innovation cannot outrun our values.
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
