Could artificial intelligence (AI) cause the extinction of the human species? In the fictional films The Terminator and The Matrix, AI has wiped out humans until they become an endangered species. This reality has yet to happen but there are already some opinions from academics who predict that this fiction can become reality.
Today more than 350 experts in AI and academics from renowned universities signed down their signatures agreeing that AI carries the risk of extinction and that it needs to be a global priority like an epidemic and even nuclear war.
Among those who signed this statement are Sam Altman (CEO OpenAI), Demis Hassabis (CEO DeepMind), Emad Mostaque (CEO Stability AI) as well as several heads of departments from renowned universities such as Stanford, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Cambridge and Cornell.
The impact of AI can already be seen with writers losing their jobs, artists having their work stolen and incidents of answers given by AI being full of falsehoods. This statement about the risks of AI to humans is similar to the statement signed by 11,00 scientists in 2019 about the impending doom if climate change is not addressed immediately.