Apple's co-founder says AI will make it easier for 'bad actors' to get away with more convincing scams

• Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak warned AI could be used to get away with more convincing scams.
• This is because tools like ChatGPT can produce text that sounds as intelligent as a human, he said.
• Wozniak recently signed an open letter calling for a pause on the development of AI.

Apple's co-founder warned that AI could make it easier for "bad actors" to get away with very convincing scams, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976, sat down for an interview with the BBC's technology editor Zoe Kleinman to discuss his concerns around AI and calls for greater regulation in the industry.

"AI is so intelligent it's open to the bad players, the ones that want to trick you about who they are," Wozniak told the BBC, explaining that tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT produce text that "sounds so intelligent" it will make scammers even more convincing.

He also said individuals should take responsibility for anything that is generated by AI and then posted in the public realm. "A human really has to take the responsibility for what is generated by AI," he said.

The Silicon Valley veteran - who left Apple in 1985 but said he was still on its payroll as recently as 2020 - is critical about the role big tech firms are playing in the development of AI. They "feel they can kind of get away with anything," he said.

Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Wozniak's remarks on AI.

Wozniak signed an open letter in March, alongside Elon Musk, Pinterest cofounder Evan Sharp, and various experts, calling for a six-month pause on the development of AI technology that is more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4.

The letter said that AI firms are locked in an "out-of-control race to develop and deploy" tools that pose a risk to the future of civilization.

Wozniak acknowledged in his interview with the BBC that while we can't necessarily stop the technology from being produced, consumers need to be better informed about it so they can spot malicious scams.