Concerns Over AI Should Be Grounded in Facts Not Fears

The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Stephen Hawking [AI Poses] vastly more risk than North Korea. Elon Musk Very smart people tell us to be very worried about AI. But very smart people can also be very wrong and their paranoia is a form of cognitive bias owed to our evolved psychology. Concerns over the potential harm of new technologies are often sensible, but they should be grounded in fact, not flights of fearful fancy. Fortunately, at the moment, there is little cause for alarm. Some fear that AI will reach parity with human intelligence or surpass it, at which point it will threaten harm, displace, or eliminate us. In November, Stephen Hawking told Wired, I fear that AI may replace humans altogether. If people design computer viruses, someone will design AI that replicates itself. This will be a new form of life that will outperform humans. Similarly, Elon Musk has said that AI is a fundamental existential risk for human civilization. This fear seems to be …