In the lead up to the company's quarterly earnings announcement, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg released a statement on AI superintelligence, proclaiming, "Developing superintelligence is now in sight."

Meta, parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has been pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into its AI technology, seeking to build what Zuckerberg has called "personal superintelligence," according to the Guardian.   

"Over the last few months we have begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves," Zuckerberg wrote in the statement. "The improvement is slow for now, but undeniable." 

What's happening?

Tech companies around the world have been pumping billions of dollars into various artificial-intelligence-based technologies, seeking to control what experts say will be the dominant technology of the near future. 

Zuckerberg clearly shares the techno-utopian vision of many AI proponents, referring in his statement to the "profound … abundance" that AI might one day produce.  

However, according to Zuckerberg, Meta's vision for AI's future differs from that of many of its rivals. Rather than building enterprise-level AI aimed at "automating all valuable work," Zuckerberg has set his company's sights on bringing "personal superintelligence to everyone." 

"We believe in putting this power in people's hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives," Zuckerberg wrote.

While the overall tone of the statement conveyed great enthusiasm about the potential for AI's future, Zuckerberg also acknowledged that risks do exist. 

"That said, superintelligence will raise novel safety concerns," Zuckerberg said. "We'll still need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source."

"Still, we believe that building a free society requires that we aim to empower people as much as possible," he continued.

Investors appeared to approve of Meta's massive investment in AI and so-called "superintelligence," which has been financed by the company's still-booming ad revenues. Meta shares rose 10% after its quarterly financials were released, according to the Guardian.  

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Why does AI matter?

While both advocates and critics of artificial intelligence have deeply held views on opposite ends of the AI debate, one thing that everyone seems to agree on is that AI has the potential to revolutionize human society and change the way the world operates. 

Depending on one's perspective, AI either has the power to unleash never-before-seen levels of abundance for all of humanity to share or to amplify existing inequality by rendering millions of people jobless. 

In reality, both scenarios appear to be in play, but the likeliest outcome would be one that falls somewhere between these two extremes. 

Ultimately, the form AI takes and the impacts it will have on the world will depend heavily on decisions made, or not made, in the next few years. 

"The rest of this decade seems likely to be the decisive period for determining the path this technology will take, and whether superintelligence will be a tool for personal empowerment or a force focused on replacing large swaths of society," Zuckerberg wrote in his statement.

While AI has the potential to completely upend human society and the world economy, the future of AI also has enormous implications for public health and the environment. 

AI technology's existence relies on massive, power-hungry data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity. Goldman Sachs has projected that by 2030 AI will increase data-center power use by 160%.

As data centers consume more and more electricity, they will continue to drive demand, causing energy prices to go up for everyone.

All of this extra demand for electricity could come at an environmental cost, as well. While more data centers are beginning to rely on clean energy, Goldman Sachs forecast in 2024 that the carbon pollution resulting from data center's power use will double between 2022 and 2030. 

What's being done about AI energy concerns?

While the European Union's regulations governing AI went into effect in August 2024, in general, governments around the world have been slow to react to the risks that AI poses to the economy, the environment, and even more specific matters such as copyright enforcement. 

Polling has shown that the public favors government regulation of AI by large margins. A poll by the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute found that 75% of U.S. voters favored government regulation of AI over allowing the industry to self-regulate.  

However, with AI technology advancing by the day, the time for governments to act within an optimal time frame is running short.

If you want to use your voice and push for government regulation of AI before it is too late, you can contact your elected officials in Washington and let them know that you support government oversight of the AI industry. 

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