Comparisons seem to be everywhere these days. ‘It’s like a nuclear weapon,’ says pioneering artificial intelligence researcher Said. Top AI execs cite their own products as examples to nuclear energy. And a group of industry leaders warned last week that AI technology could pose the same existential threat to humanity as nuclear war.
People liken AI progress to splitting atoms for Year. But with the release of AI chatbots and the demands of domestic and international regulation by AI creators, much as scientists called for guardrails to control nuclear weapons in the 1950s, the comparison is more muted. It’s getting sharper. Some experts fear that AI will soon eliminate jobs or spread misinformation. Others worry that superintelligent systems will eventually learn to write their own computer code and slip past the shackles of human control, perhaps deciding to exterminate us. “The developers of this technology tell us they’re worried,” says Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which tracks man-made threats to civilization. “The creators of this technology want governance and regulation. The creators of this technology tell us we need to pay attention.”
Not all experts consider this comparison appropriate. Some point out that while the destructiveness of nuclear power is dynamic and proven, the dangers of AI to humanity remain speculative. Some argue that almost all technologies, including AI and nuclear power, have benefits and risks. “Give me a technology that can’t be used for anything evil, and I’ll give you a completely useless technology that can’t be used for anything,” says Julian Togelius, a computer scientist at New York University who works on AI. Stated.
But the comparisons have become so frequent and frequent that annihilationists and advocates alike are hard to tell whether they are talking about AI or nuclear technology. Take the quiz below and see if you can tell the difference.
Can you guess what subject these quotes are about?
The above quotes are just a small part of the reaction to and discussion around AI and nuclear technology. They capture similarities, but also some notable differences. It is the fear of imminent and devastating destruction by nuclear weapons. Or that most of the current advances in AI are the work of private companies, not governments.
But in both cases, some of the same people who brought this technology to the world are sounding the loudest alarm bells. “It’s about managing the risk of scientific progress,” Bronson said of AI. and there are many lessons to be learned from the nuclear field in that regard.” And you don’t have to treat them as equals to learn from them. “
