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There Is Little Evidence for Today's AI Alarmism


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Illustration of a group of robots, one has bright glowing eyes made to convey malicious intent.

Today's alarmists have yet to provide compelling evidence to justify their cataclysmic fears.

Credit: Getty Images

"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war." What are we to make of the fact that Geoffrey Hinton, Sam Altman, and many other leading artificial intelligence (AI) experts have lent their names to that one-sentence statement issued by the Center for AI Safety? There is no mention of AI's benefits, just the word "extinction" and two terrifying analogies certain to excite the media, trouble the public, and cast doubt over America's technological future.

If there was ever a time to defend digital, this is it. The horrors of viruses and atomic bombs are all too real, but many AI risks are still vague and speculative.

From Defending Digital
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