Artificial intelligence will get ‘crazier and crazier’ without controls, a leading start-up founder warns
Large artificial intelligence models will only get “crazier and crazier” unless more is done to control what information they are trained on, according to the founder of one of the UK’s leading AI start-ups.
Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI, argues continuing to train large language models like OpenAI’s GPT4 and Google’s LaMDA on what is effectively the entire internet, is making them too unpredictable and potentially dangerous.
“The labs themselves say this could pose an existential threat to humanity,” said Mr Mostaque.
On Tuesday the head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, told the United States Congress that the technology could “go quite wrong” and called for regulation.
Today Sir Antony Seldon, headteacher of Epsom College, told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that AI could be could be “invidious and dangerous”.
‘Painting of Edinburgh Castle’ generated by artificial intelligence tool Stable Diffusion, whose founder warns not all internet users will be able to distinguish between real and AI images. Pic: Stable Diffusion
An image of ‘print of fruits in green and orange’ generated by artificial intelligence tool Stable Diffusion, which converts text to images. Pic: Stable Diffusion
“When the people making [the models] say that, we should probably have an open discussion about that,” added Mr Mostaque.
But AI developers like Stability AI may have no choice in having such a discussion. Much of the data used to train their powerful text-to-image AI products was also “scraped” from the internet.
That includes millions of copyright images that led to legal action against the company – as well as big questions about who ultimately “owns” the products that image- or text-generating AI systems create.
His firm collaborated on the development of Stable Diffusion, one of the leading text-to-image AIs. Stability AI has just launched a new model called Deep Floyd that it claims is the most advanced image-generating AI yet.
A ‘photo of a fuzzy cute owl drinking very dark beer’ created by AI. Pic: DeepFloyd
A photo-realistic style image of a ‘playful furry fox working as a pilot’ created by artificial intelligence. Pic: DeepFloyd
A necessary step in making the AI safe, explained Daria Bakshandaeva, senior researcher at Stability AI, was to remove illegal, violent and pornographic images from the training data.
If the AI sees harmful or explicit images during its training, it could recreate them in its output. To avoid this, the developers remove these images from the training data, so the AI cannot “imagine” how they would look.
But it still took two billion images from online sources to train it. Stability AI says it is actively working on new datasets to train AI models that respect people’s rights to their data.
Stability AI is being sued in the US by photo agency Getty Images for using 12 million of its images as part of the dataset used to train its model. Stability AI has responded that rules around “fair use” of the images means no copyright has been infringed.
But the concern isn’t just about copyright. Increasing amounts of data available on the web whether it’s pictures, text or computer code is being generated by AI.
“If you look at coding, 50% of all the code generated now is AI generated, which is an amazing shift in just over one year or 18 months,” said Mr Mostaque.
And text-generating AIs are creating increasing amounts of online content, even news reports.
Image of ‘England wins men’s football world cup in 2026’ generated by artificial intelligence tool Stable Diffusion, which converts text to image, shows that the tool does not always get it spot on. Pic: Stable Diffusion
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Sir Anthony Seldon highlights benefits and risks of AI
US company News Guard, which verifies online content, recently found 49 almost entirely AI generated “fake news” websites online being used to drive clicks to advertising content.
“We remain really concerned about an average internet users’ ability to find information and know that it is accurate information,” said Matt Skibinski, managing director at NewsGuard.
AIs risk polluting the web with content that’s deliberately misleading and harmful or just rubbish. It’s not that people haven’t been doing that for years, it’s just that now AI’s might end up being trained on data scraped from the web that other AIs have created.
All the more reason to think hard now about what data we use to train even more powerful AIs.
“Don’t feed them junk food,” said Mr Mostaque. “We can have better free range organic models right now. Otherwise, they’ll become crazier and crazier.”
A good place to start, he argues, is making AIs that are trained on data, whether it’s text or images or medical data, that is more specific to the users it’s being made for. Right now, most AIs are designed and trained in California.
“I think we need our own datasets or our own models to reflect the diversity of humanity,” said Mr Mostaque.
“I think that will be safer as well. I think they’ll be more aligned with human values than just having a very limited data set and a very limited set of experiences that are only available to the richest people in the world.”
Singer Linda Nolan, who rose to fame alongside her sisters in The Nolans, has died after several years of battling cancer.
The Irish star, 65, and her sisters Coleen, Maureen, Bernie, Denise and Anne, had a run of hits in the late 1970s and ’80s – including the disco classic I’m In The Mood For Dancing.
Paying tribute on The Nolans‘ X account, her sisters described her as “a pop icon and beacon of hope”, who “faced incurable cancer with courage, grace and determination, inspiring millions”.
Linda died peacefully in hospital this morning, “embraced with love and comfort” with her siblings by her side, her agent Dermot McNamara said in a statement.
“As a member of The Nolans, one of the most successful girl groups of all time, Linda achieved global success; becoming the first Irish act to sell over a million records worldwide, touring the world and selling over 30 million records,” he said.
“Her distinctive voice and magnetic stage presence brought joy to fans around the world, securing her place as an icon of British and Irish entertainment.”
As well as her TV and musical career, Linda helped to raise more than £20 million for numerous charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Irish Cancer Society, Samaritans and others.
“Her selflessness and tireless commitment to making a difference in the lives of others will forever be a cornerstone of her legacy,” Mr McNamara said.
Five of the Nolans in 1983 (L-R): Linda, Anne, Bernie, Coleen and Maureen. Pic: PA
Linda’s death came after she was admitted to hospital with pneumonia over the weekend. She began receiving end-of-life care after slipping into a coma on Tuesday.
Details of a celebration of the star’s “remarkable life” will be shared in due course.
Linda was born to Tommy and Maureen Nolan in Dublin on 23 February 1959, the sixth of eight children.
Her parents were both singers and keen to turn their young family into a musical troupe. Linda made her stage debut aged just four.
Those early years put the siblings on track for a career in show business which lasted for decades. As well as I’m In The Mood For Dancing, The Nolans had hits with Gotta Pull Myself Together, Attention To Me and Don’t Make Waves, and they also had their own TV specials.
At their height, they toured with Frank Sinatra and were reported to have outsold The Beatles in Japan.
Linda left the group in 1983, but later reformed with her sisters for several comeback performances. She also became known for musical theatre, most notably performing the role of Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers for three years from 2000.
L-R: Bernie, Denise, Linda (top), Anne and Maureen Nolan pictured in 1975, before youngest sister Coleen joined the group
Four siblings struck by cancer
Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, and underwent a mastectomy two days before her 47th birthday.
After being given the all-clear in 2011, in 2017 she was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. Three years later, Linda and Anne together revealed they were being treated for cancer once again.
The sisters were diagnosed with different forms of the disease just days apart after they returned home from filming a series of their show, The Nolans Go Cruising. Linda had cancer of the liver, while Anne had breast cancer.
The star, pictured last year, had battled cancer for several years. Pic: Shutterstock
They went on to write Stronger Together, an account of their journey that included frank details of their treatments and the side effects.
But in 2023, Linda revealed the cancer had spread to her brain and she was beginning treatment as part of a new drug trial.
The Nolans lost their second-youngest sister, Bernie, to cancer in 2013, aged 52.
Loose Women star Coleen Nolan also revealed she was diagnosed with skin cancer last year, and said she was using a chemotherapy cream to remove it.
Linda’s husband of 26 years, Brian Hudson, died in 2007 after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
Anne Nolan is now cancer-free.
Tributes to star ‘who was always a joy’
TV star and singer Cheryl Baker and comedian Tommy Cannon are among those who have paid tribute.
“I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of Linda Nolan,” Cannon wrote on X. “I had the pleasure of working with her on so many occasions, and she was always a joy – full of warmth and love. My thoughts and love are with the Nolan girls and the whole family.”
“The most incredible voice, the wickedest sense of humour, such a massive talent,” Baker wrote. “You’re with Brian now, Lin.”
Loose Women also sent its love to her family. Linda appeared as a guest panellist on the ITV chat show over the years, alongside her sister Coleen.
The Blackpool Grand Theatre described her as “a true Blackpool icon”.
A 20-year-old trainee gas engineer who won £7.5m says he was back working on blocked drains the day after claiming his cash.
James Clarkson, 20, from Carlisle, Cumbria, found out he’d hit the £7,533,329 National Lottery jackpot on 4 January – but said he has no plans to quit his job.
“I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won,” he said.
“It was a bit grim but that’s reality.
“I’m not going to stop working, I’m too young,” he added, admitting he knew it might sound “mad” to some.
“I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there.
“I need to have a purpose in life, plus dad wouldn’t let me not work anyway. He says there are plenty of millionaires out there that still work and you need a reason to get up each day.”
Mr Clarkson celebrating with his family. Pic: PA
Mr Clarkson added he still planned to have “some nice holidays” in between working, and revealed one of his first purchases was an all-inclusive luxury break to Cape Verde, along with a few designer items including a Gucci bag for his girlfriend and two new jackets for himself.
He said he also planned to splash out on a new car, possibly an Audi – but for now, he’s got his work van.
“If you drive a cold work van all day, going from job to job, you’d understand,” he said.
“The comfort, the steering, the heated seats. I realise how jammy that sounds, not many people my age can afford the car insurance let alone a car like that to drive.”
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As a huge Manchester City fan, he said he was also looking to buy a season ticket at the Etihad Stadium, as well as taking care of his extended family – starting with paying off his parents’ mortgage.
The new multi-millionaire holds up bespoke Manchester City kit celebrating his win. Pic: PA
He said: “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, it’s what I want to do. I told them last night and they seemed really overwhelmed.
“We are close and they have always been there for me. This win isn’t just for me, I want to make sure we all benefit.”
Mr Clarkson played on the National Lottery app, choosing his winning numbers – 16, 19, 22, 24, 27 and 35 – at random.
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