AI, or artificial intelligence, has been a topic of fascination and fear for years, and now an expert in the field is warning that a call for a six-month pause on developing powerful systems is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Eliezer Yudkowsky, a renowned decision theorist at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute studying artificial intelligence safety, argues that we’re underestimating the gravity of the situation. 

In a recent op-ed for Time, Yudkowsky reveals how the fast-rising technology could surpass human intelligence and pose a real threat to humanity.

Tech Expert Warns Of Graver Threat

More than 1,600 prominent figures, including SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, have signed an open letter issued by the Future of Life Institute, urging the government to halt the development of any AI system that surpasses the current GPT-4 model. 

However, according to Yudkowsky, the real issue is not about creating human-competitive intelligence, as the letter states. Instead, he argues that the greater danger arises once artificial intelligence becomes smarter than humans.

Yudkowsky believes that building a superhumanly smart AI under current circumstances would lead to a disastrous outcome, resulting in the demise of everyone on the planet. 

“Not as in ‘maybe possibly some remote chance,’ but as in ‘that is the obvious thing that would happen,’” he emphasized.

AI: ‘Shut It All Down’

The solution, according to Yudkowsky, is a global effort to halt the development of powerful artificial intelligence systems. He emphasized that shutting down AI development should be prioritized even over preventing a nuclear exchange. 

“Shut it all down,” he wrote. “No exceptions for governments and militaries.” 

He further proposed international cooperation between rival nations, including the United States and China, to reduce the risk of large AI training runs.

Artificial intelligence has become a hot topic in recent months, with its potential and pitfalls taking center stage.

The growing popularity of AI-powered image creation tools like Midjourney and the widespread adoption of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a large language model, have contributed to the rise of the technology’s prominence.

Microsoft, a major player in the tech industry, has been leading the charge in expanding the use cases of ChatGPT. The company has signed a $10 billion deal with OpenAI and integrated the language model with its popular services Bing and Office 365.

-Featured image from Management Today