Artificial intelligence has advanced so rapidly that leading researchers have signed an open letter urging an immediate pause in its development, citing “profound risks to society and humanity”. But how exactly could AI destroy us? Five leading researchers speculate on what could go wrong.
Max Tegmark, an AI researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, warns that humans could be wiped out by a smarter species, just as we have driven many species to extinction. “If you have machines that control the planet, and they are interested in doing a lot of computation and they want to scale up their computing infrastructure, it’s natural that they would want to use our land for that,” he says. “If we protest too much, then we become a pest and a nuisance to them. They might want to rearrange the biosphere to do something else with those atoms – and if that is not compatible with human life, well, tough luck for us.”
Another expert highlights the present-day harms of AI, such as biased algorithms used in welfare benefits, criminal justice, and hiring. “These kinds of biases are present in AI systems already, operating in invisible ways and at increasingly large scales: falsely accusing people of crimes, determining whether people find public housing, automating CV screening and job interviews,” the expert says. “Every day, these harms present existential risks; it is existential to someone who is relying on public benefits that those benefits be delivered accurately and on time.”
The researchers stress that while speculative fears about far-future existential risks gather attention, we must work urgently to understand and prevent present-day harms. “When the worst-case scenario is already the lived reality for so many people, best-case scenarios are even more,” one expert concludes.
