In realistic terms how would artificial intelligence actually kill me? What is the main proxy threat? Nuclear war, death due to breakdown of society, a virus?
I hear all these reports it could kill us but still unsure how that could practically happen? To be honest all sounds too wooly to really take seriously. Pottys99 Aisha: For what it’s worth, it seems unlikely that AI at this point can significantly change the equation around bioweapons or viruses … What has prevented bioweapon attacks through the past decades is not the difficulty of inventing new deadly viruses, but other, more prosaic issues.
Consider the failure of Aum Shinrikyo to kill vast numbers of people with botulism and anthrax by spraying these around central Tokyo. There are a lot of logistical challenges, and chemical weapons seem more straightforward. Those exist without AI needing to invent new ones.
Humans might make the poor decision to put AI in charge of key nuclear systems, perhaps, but that seems more of a human error than a rogue AI error. Humans could also make the poor decision to launch tactical warheads without AI. How might AI kill us otherwise?
There are of course plenty of plausible scenarios. If you’re a civilian in Gaza or Iran, it could direct a US or Israeli missile your way. But perhaps our focus might be more productively directed towards the people and companies in charge of the systems, as opposed to Dr Strangelove scenarios.
Throughout history new technological advances have met with cries of doom. Are the cries against AI any different? Virtualewit Blake: The end times-quality of doomsday predictions may be similar across history, but I think the reason we listen to the renewed cries of doom is the growing power of each technology.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
