AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) may amplify the potential for malicious actors to cause harm, but control will always be in the hands of humans themselves, said a celebrated UK computer scientist.

Leslie Valiant, winner of the Association for Computing Machinery's 2010 A.M. Turing Award after his work helped lay the foundation for machine learning.

He was also granted the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in Theoretical Computer and Information Sciences at the International Congress of Basic Science held in mid-July in Beijing.

Speaking of the possible security threats brought by AI in an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Valiant stressed technology is only a tool that could empower human behavior, for good or ill.

"I think it's a new age where machines will get into every aspect of our life. Many of the issues [are] because what machines are doing are just what humans used to do. So in some sense, none of these questions are totally novel. So we've had to face the issue of fraud, for example, humans perpetrating fraud. Now they can get help from machines. So there are many serious issues, but none of the issues are totally new, just the new situation where machines can help amplify," said Valiant.

On technology as a threat to employment, the acclaimed scientist said AI's development will take away some job opportunities and create others, but human preference will still play a leading role in the allocation of labor.

"There's always been kind of churn in the labor market. So there are new jobs created by technology and new jobs taken away by technology. So what happens does depend a lot on human choice, which is about to happen. For example, in the education world, whether it will be all robots teaching or humans teaching, it's hard to predict because it depends on human preference. But what I expect is that in most professions, computers will help and humans will decide what needs to be done. They'll keep control of (the situation), they'll make the choices, but computers will help. I don't think it's all negative news from AI," he said.

AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

AI's emergence presents old challenges in new form: Turing Award winner

A trilateral meeting between delegations from Russia, the United States, and Ukraine began on Friday evening at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign ministry said.

The meeting marks the first trilateral engagement since the conflict began in 2022.

Participants include senior officials from all three sides, among them U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump; Russia's military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov; and senior Ukrainian officials, including Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian president, and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.

The talks followed hours of overnight discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump's envoys, which the Kremlin described as "constructive, extremely candid and useful for both Russia and the United States".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian diplomatic team reported almost every hour from the UAE. They were discussing the parameters for ending the war.

Ukraine's position is clear, he said, adding that he has defined the framework for dialogue for their delegation.

As for the substance of Friday's discussions, it is still too early to draw conclusions, he said, and they will see how the conversation develops on Saturday and what results would come.

He also noted that Andriy Hnatov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Vadym Skibitsky, deputy chief of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence will join the talks on Saturday.

UAE hosts first Russia-US-Ukraine talks since start of conflict