An expert in the field of artificial intelligence is issuing a dire warning on the future of the rapidly-developing technology.
In a new piece written for Time Magazine, AI research pioneer Eliezer Yudkowsky says the methods and structures currently used to grow AI are placing humanity in serious danger.
Yudkowsky points to an open letter from the Future of Life Institute that calls for an immediate pause on AI development.
He says he did not sign the letter because he believes it does not go far enough.
“Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die.”
Yudkowsky says he’s not talking about a small or even a statistically significant chance that AI would wipe out humanity.
Rather, he says it’s the obvious outcome.
“If somebody builds a too-powerful AI, under present conditions, I expect that every single member of the human species and all biological life on Earth dies shortly thereafter.”
Yudkowsky says there is too much ignorance on just how self-aware and powerful new AI systems really are, which alone suggests developers should stop immediately and determine how to implement measures to safeguard the technology and protect life on Earth.
A group of more than 1,000 AI experts, researchers, backers as well as tech entrepreneurs including Elon Musk signed the open letter calling for a pause on AI development.
The power, promise and potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence burst on the scene in recent months amid an explosion in the use of AI-powered image creating tools like Midjourney and the rapid adoption of the OpenAI’s large language model ChatGPT.
Microsoft has led the charge on expanding use cases of ChatGPT, integrating it with Bing and Office 365, after signing a $10 billion deal with OpenAI.
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