Does AI Pose 'Risk of Extinction' to Humanity? Top AI Executives Answer This Question

Top artificial intelligence executives including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday joined experts and professors in raising the “risk of extinction from AI”, which they urged policymakers to equate at par with risks posed by pandemics and nuclear war. Recent developments in AI have created tools supporters say can be used in applications from medical diagnostics to writing legal briefs, but this has sparked fears the technology could lead to privacy violations, power misinformation campaigns, and lead to issues with “smart machines” thinking for themselves. The warning comes two months after the nonprofit Future of Life Institute issued a similar open letter, signed by Musk and hundreds more, demanding an urgent pause in advanced AI research, citing risks to humanity. “Now a constructive open conversation can finally start.” AI pioneer Hinton earlier told Reuters that AI could pose a “more urgent” threat to humanity than climate change.