AI Won’t Really Kill Us All, Will It?
In recent months, many, many researchers and computer scientists involved in creating artificial intelligence have been warning the world that they’ve created something unbelievably dangerous. Something that might eventually lead humanity to extinction. Paul Christiano, who worked at Open AI, put it this way: “If, God forbid, they were trying to kill us, they would definitely kill us.” Such warnings can sound bombastic and overblown—but then again, they’re often coming from the people who understand this technology best.
In this episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosin talks to The Atlantic’s executive editor, Adrienne LaFrance, and staff writer Charlie Warzel about how seriously we should take these warnings. Should we think of these AI doomers as street preachers? Or are they canny Silicon Valley marketers trying to emphasize the power of what they’ve built?
In Europe, there is already a broad conversation about limiting AI surveillance technology and inserting pauses before approving commercial uses. In the U.S., coalitions of researchers and legislators have called for a “pause,” without any specifics. Meanwhile, with all this talk of killer robots, humanity may be overlooking the more immediate dangers posed by AI. We talk about where things stand and how to orient ourselves to the coming dangers.
Listen to the conversation here:
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The following transcript has been edited for clarity.
Hanna Rosin: I remember when I was a little kid being alone in my room one night watching this movie called The Day After. It was about nuclear war, and for some absurd reason, it was airing on regular network TV.
The Day After:
Denise: It smells so bad down here. I can’t even breathe!
Denise’s mom: Get ahold of yourself, Denise.
: I particularly remember a scene where a character named
