Gary Marcus, professor emeritus of psychology and neural science, has called on citizens to stop using artificial intelligence until technology companies address the risks linked to their systems. Speaking at La Sapienza University’s “AI Beyond the Hype – From Intelligence to Epistemia” initiative, Marcus said users should boycott AI because major companies are promoting its adoption partly for financial reasons.
Marcus, a prominent critic of AI’s limits and prospects, also argued that the technology requires global governance. He praised Pope for taking time to understand AI through the encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” saying that few people make a comparable effort before forming an opinion.
The academic also accused OpenAI of consistently understating the risks of its AI systems. Referring to the company behind ChatGPT, he predicted that OpenAI could ultimately meet a fate similar to WeWork, which he described as a company led by a charismatic figure that failed after going public.
La Sapienza rector Antonella Polimeni opened the event by discussing the university’s role in developing critical thinking about AI’s advances. Walter Quattrociocchi, a professor in the university’s Department of Computer Science, said science should raise new questions rather than confuse statistical approximation with intelligence.
Quattrociocchi added that one of the central challenges will be ensuring that people have the skills to distinguish reliable information from “AI slop,” or low-quality content.
Sources: ANSA Politica.