AI Researchers Warn Superintelligence Is ‘Exactly as Dangerous as It Sounds’ in New Videos
Palisade Research published interviews with AI researchers who warn superintelligent AI could cause human extinction.
Geoffrey Irving, a former OpenAI and Google DeepMind employee, said in one interview: “The chance of human extinction is about a coin flip, in my view.” The project includes about a dozen interviews, according to The Verge. The videos feature people inside the industry building AI technology and echo some of the “doomer” warnings others have sounded recently.
Several researchers joined Irving in warning about the possibility that AI could drive humans extinct. Neel Nanda, a Google DeepMind research scientist, said there is “at least a 10 percent chance that it causes human extinction, and that is ridiculously high.”
Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajilo said superintelligent AI “would basically be god-like powerful.” He added: “Unfortunately we don’t know how to control them at all. And so probably nobody would control them. This is exactly as dangerous as it sounds and must not be allowed to happen.”
The site also collects segments from multiple people speaking on similar topics, including whether the warnings are hype or marketing, and why they would work on something they believe is dangerous. Google’s Mary Phuong said: “I think you absolutely should be suspicious of what I’m saying because I am being paid by the lab.” Nanda said: “If I did not believe that my work was directly reducing these existential risks, I would quit… These companies are not going to stop making these systems just because I quit.”
The Verge noted that it has reported on the “AI safety” community and how difficult it is to define the term or agree on what anyone should do about it. Even the new videos do not offer one cohesive solution, according to The Verge.
Editor's Summary
Palisade Research has released interviews with current and former AI researchers who warn that superintelligent AI poses an extinction-level risk. Some researchers put the risk of human extinction at 10 percent or higher, while others acknowledge concerns about their own industry ties. The videos do not present a unified plan for addressing the risk.