Could AI really kill us all? Your questions, answered.
MIT Technology Review editors address reader questions regarding the existential risks posed by artificial intelligence. They conclude that while AI-driven accidents or cyberattacks are plausible, the scenario of AI causing human extinction is considered unlikely.
Why it matters
As AI integration accelerates, public concern regarding long-term safety and existential risk has become a significant topic of debate among experts and the public.
You had a lot of questions about the recent claims that humanity is facing an existential risk from AI. We had a go at answering a few.
On Wednesday, MIT Technology Review hosted a live Roundtables event for subscribers that asked the question everyone’s asking right now: Could AI really kill us all?
But attendees had so many more questions than we had time to answer in the 30 minute session. So we asked our senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and AI reporter Grace Huckins to round up some of the best questions attendees submitted and try their best to answer them.
Yes, eventually. Unfortunately, my journalistic powers of prognostication aren’t powerful enough for me to tell you how. But it certainly could be because of AI. AI-powered drones have already killed people in Ukraine, and AI-driven cyberattacks on hospitals will surely claim victims before long.
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