capability overhang

English

Noun

capability overhang (uncountable)

1. (artificial intelligence) Capabilities and potential applications of existing artificial intelligence systems that have not yet been discovered.
   • 2022 December 8, James Vincent, “ChatGPT proves AI is finally mainstream — and things are only going to get weirder”, in The Verge‎^[1], archived from the original on 2024-04-30:

     Researchers talk about the 'capability overhang,' or hidden skills and dangers, of artificial intelligence. As the technology goes mainstream, we're going to discover a lot of new things about them.

   • 2023 March 29, Alex Hern, “Elon Musk joins call for pause in creation of giant AI 'digital minds'”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-10:

     Since the release of GPT-4, OpenAI has been adding capabilities to the AI system with "plugins", giving it the ability to look up data on the open web, plan holidays, and even order groceries. But the company has to deal with "capability overhang": the issue that its own systems are more powerful than it knows at release.

   • 2024 January 26, Eric Schmidt, “How We Can Control AI”, in The Wall Street Journal‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 January 2024:

     What's much harder to test for is what's known as "capability overhang"—meaning not just the model's current knowledge, but the derived knowledge it could potentially generate on its own.