Deepfakes VS. Rising Seas. Move over climate change, there's a new threat to humanity in town. AI is the looming danger that's got experts sounding the alarm bells louder than ever. We're diving into the future of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on humanity in today’s edition of The Pulse.

The Pulse Results (34 Votes) 📈

Side A 53% - Climate change is a bigger threat to humanity than AI

Side B 47% - AI is a bigger threat to humanity than climate change

^{Poll closed: May 24, 2023}

‘Godfather of AI’ says its threat is ‘more urgent’ to humanity than climate change

Published on: May 8, 2023
Published by: New York Post

In the past few months, AI has gone from 0 to 100 real quick. It's like the futuristic stuff we watched on "The Jetsons" as kids is becoming a reality at lightning speed. The rise of AI has left humanity divided. While some people are thrilled about the technological advancements and the amazing possibilities they offer, others are concerned that AI is progressing too fast, claiming that if we don't rein it in soon, it could pose a massive threat to humanity. Recently, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, aka the 'Godfather of AI, sounded the alarm after leaving his role at Google's AI development team so that he could speak more freely about it without disparaging the company’s efforts in the sector.

Hinton claims that the burgeoning technology is a “more urgent” risk to humanity than the effects of climate change. Hinton joins other experts, including Elon Musk, in raising concerns about unregulated AI development, citing the potential for misinformation, job losses, and societal harm. Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives recently called for a six-month pause in developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's newly launched GPT-4, in an open letter citing potential risks to society.

The plot twist is that despite Hinton’s concerns, he disagrees with the idea of pausing advanced AI development for six months, calling it unrealistic.

So, Hinton's stance is crystal clear, but we're curious about your take! Do you think AI poses a greater danger to humanity than climate change?

The Debate Showdown

Side A: Climate change is bigger threat to humanity than AI

• We've all seen the movies. AI going rogue like in The Terminator. But let's be real, the extreme weather from climate change feels a lot more like The Day After Tomorrow right now. We're dealing with hurricanes, heatwaves, floods, and wildfires that are affecting real people today.

• Yes, the fear of robots taking our jobs is real. But what’s even scarier is not having anything to eat or drink… Famine and drought are bigger threats than potential job loss.

• Climate change is hitting us where it hurts - our wallets. It's messing with industries like farming and fishing. Not to mention, the huge clean-up bills after climate disasters.

• Climate change is harming our precious biodiversity and ecosystems. We're talking about losing species and habitats that once gone, we can't bring back… not even with AI.

• Imagine living in a world where the air you breathe is making you sick, or where diseases are spreading like wildfire. That's the health nightmare climate change could bring us.

• While AI presents challenges, its potential negative outcomes can be managed and controlled through appropriate measures, unlike the urgent and complex nature of climate change. We need to deal with climate change now before it’s too late, and then we can worry about managing AI.

Side B: AI is a bigger threat to humanity than climate change

• We've got two possible "end of the world" scenarios on our hands. Sure, climate change is making our weather go haywire right now, but if AI got out of control, we might be looking at a real-life version of I, Robot and The Terminator.

• AI could make "Big Brother" from the book 1984 a reality. Imagine having no privacy, being tracked all the time, not being able to trust the news you read, or even being able to “think” without government monitoring you? Yikes.

• Yes, climate change is hitting us in the wallet with all these disasters. But what if AI takes our jobs? We are talking about a whole different kind of economic crisis.

• Losing jobs, constant surveillance, and the spread of fake news could lead to serious mental health problems. So, while climate change is damaging our lungs, AI might be damaging our minds. And if we want to tackle climate change, we need our minds to do so.

• Deepfakes, powered by AI, could make videos so convincing that they start wars, ruin reputations, or sway elections. As much as we worry about our physical world with climate change, AI could shatter our shared sense of reality. And you won’t be worried about climate change when you’re trying to survive a war.

• The potential for AI systems to surpass human intelligence raises concerns about the loss of control and the potential for AI systems to develop goals misaligned with human values.

• Unlike climate change, which requires collective action and long-term solutions, addressing the risks associated with AI requires immediate attention and comprehensive frameworks to ensure responsible development and deployment.

Key Takeaways:

• Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, a prominent AI pioneer, believes that AI poses a more urgent risk to humanity than climate change.

• Hinton recently left his role assisting Google's AI development to speak more freely about the risks associated with AI.

• He highlights the difficulty in addressing the risks of AI compared to climate change, where reducing carbon emissions is a clear solution.

• Hinton joins other experts, including Elon Musk and Microsoft's top economist, in raising concerns about the unrestrained development of AI.

• Critics argue that unregulated AI could lead to misinformation, job losses, and societal harm.

• Hinton expresses regret about the potential risks of AI and fears that it could become uncontrollable as systems develop their own computer code.

• He disagrees with the call for a six-month pause in advanced AI development, considering it unrealistic.

• The Biden administration recently hosted a forum on AI with tech leaders to discuss how to approach advancements in the technology.

• Hinton received the Turing Award in 2018 for his ground-breaking work on neural networks, which paved the way for products like ChatGPT.

Previous Debate

Previous Pulse Results (28 Votes) 📈

Side A 53% - Social media companies are private and they should remain private

Side B 46% - Social media companies have become too influential and should be treated as public utilities