Artificial intelligence tools have captured the public’s attention in recent months, but many of the people who helped develop the technology are now warning that greater focus should be placed on ensuring it doesn’t bring about the end of human civilization.
A group of more than 350 AI researchers, journalists, and policymakers signed a brief statement saying, “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
The letter was organized and published by the Center for AI Safety (CAIS) on Tuesday. Among the signatories was Sam Altman, who helped co-found OpenAI, the developer of the artificial intelligence writing tool ChatGPT. Other OpenAI members also signed on, as did several members of Google and Google’s DeepMind AI project, and other rising AI projects. AI researcher and podcast host Lex Fridman also added his name to the list of signatories….