AI poses ‘extinction’ risk comparable to nuclear war, pandemics, say experts
- Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be ‘a global priority’
- Worries about AI systems outsmarting humans and running wild have intensified with the rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots such as ChatGPT
Global leaders should be working to reduce “the risk of extinction” from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned on Tuesday.
A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be “a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” more than 350 signatories wrote in a letter published by the non-profit Center for AI Safety (CAIS).
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As well as Altman, they included the CEOs of AI firms DeepMind and Anthropic, and executives from Microsoft and Google.
Worries about artificial intelligence systems outsmarting humans and running wild have intensified with the rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, showing an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts.
The program’s wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm.