Student competition for drafting a treaty on moratorium of large-scale AI capabilities R&D

By Nayanika @ 2023-04-24T13:15 (+36)

Campaign for AI safety has announced a competition for the drafting of an international treaty on moratorium of large-scale AI capabilities research and development.

The competition is open to all students of law, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines. The competition is organized by the Campaign for AI Safety, an Australian unincorporated association of people who are concerned about the risks of AI.

Competition brief: The goal of the competition is to create a draft treaty document that is based on and inspired by the suggestions of the articlePausing AI Developments Isn’t Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down, including the provisions on:

• Shutting down large GPU and TPU clusters (the large computer farms where the most powerful AIs are refined).
•  Prohibition of training ML models (or combinations of models) with more than 500 million parameters.
•  Prohibition of the use of quantum computers in any AI-related activities. 
• A general moratorium of large-scale AI capabilities research and development.
• Passing of national laws criminalizing the development of any form of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) or Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). 
• Establishment of an international body to oversee the treaty. Effective mechanisms for enforcement of the treaty.
•  The treaty must not expire until it is universally agreed that it is safe and ethical to resume large-scale AI capabilities research and development. 
• Deadline for submissions: 15 July 2023 (subject to extension).

Prizes: The winner will receive a prize of AUD 4000. The runner-up will receive a prize of AUD 1000. The third place will receive a prize of AUD 500.

How to participate: 

1)Read the competition brief above. 

2)Draft a treaty: The treaty should be in English and should be no longer than 10 pages. The treaty should be submitted in Word format. 

3)Submit your draft: Please e-mail your draft to nayanika.kundu@campaignforaisafety.org. Please include your name, university, and country in the e-mail. 

4)Wait for the results: The results will be announced on 1 Aug 2023 (subject to extension). Judging criteria 

The judges will evaluate the drafts based on the following criteria:

• Clarity: The treaty should be clear and easy to understand. 
• Legality: The treaty should be legally binding. 
• Effectiveness: The treaty should be effective in achieving its goals.
• Comprehensiveness: The treaty should cover all the relevant issues. 
• Judges’ discretion: The judges may use their discretion in evaluating the drafts. Judges’ decision is final. The judges’ decision is final and cannot be appealed. Prizes will be awarded only if submissions meet basic quality requirements for treaty drafts. By submitting a draft, you agree to publication of your draft on this website and waiving copyright to your draft.

Panel of judges: We are currently assembling a panel of judges. If you are a public law professor, please e-mail us to express your interest in judging the competition.