Note from our Editor-in-Chief: In just the last week, several AI researchers and executives have expressed growing concerns that AI could kill all humans in the next decade. But should you be worried? Or, are the warnings overblown? Zeteo is publishing a pair of essays from each side of this contentious issue.
The first, published yesterday, was from AI researcher and author Nate Soares, who argued the threat is real and we must heed the warning signs immediately. The second, below, is from Paris Marx, a Canadian tech critic and host of the acclaimed ‘Tech Won’t Save Us’ podcast, who is skeptical about the end-of-humanity warnings.
As always, if you’re not already a paid subscriber, upgrade today to get full access to both of these essays and everything Zeteo offers! -Mehdi
Artificial intelligence is out for humanity. You’ve probably heard we might just have 10 years left – or at least that’s what some in the tech industry want us to believe. But should we really trust those sensationalist warnings? I’m skeptical.
This question is in the headlines again because now former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon posted a thread to X on Sept. 8 claiming OpenAI and Anthropic “are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.” In effect, Coxon claims the technologies that underpin the chatbots that have quickly become ubiquitous are getting close to improving on their own, without human oversight, and thus are headed toward the holy grail of many AI leaders: the replication of human intelligence inside the computer.
The only problem? That artificial superintelligence might turn against its creators – that’s us humans – and engage in some theoretical effort to wipe us out or enslave us. If you think that sounds like the plot of a blockbuster science fiction movie, I’d say you’re spot on, and that we should take the industry’s warnings with some caution rather than jumping to believe they’re the most trustworthy narrators of where the technology is heading.
Let’s take a step back for a moment, and look at how we got here.