Expert Warns AI's Current Risks More Immediate Than Doomsday Scenarios: 'I Think It Forms A Distraction'

A prominent figure in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry warns that the focus on AI doomsday scenarios is overshadowing more immediate risks, such as large-scale misinformation generation.

Aidan Gomez, the co-author of a research paper that led to the development of chatbot technology, expressed his concerns at the AI safety summit in London, reported The Guardian.

Gomez, the CEO of Cohere, argued that while long-term existential threats from AI require attention, they may distract politicians from addressing more immediate potential harms.

"I think in terms of existential risk and public policy, it isn't a productive conversation to be had," he said.

He added, "As far as public policy and where we should have the public-sector focus – or trying to mitigate the risk to the civilian population – I think it forms a distraction, away from risks that are much more tangible and immediate."

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He stressed that AI was already widely used and the summit should focus on these applications. The AI expert highlighted chatbots like ChatGPT and image generators like Midjourney that are capable of generating plausible text and images from simple prompts.

Gomez emphasized the spread of misleading or incorrect information online as a key concern. AI models can create media that is virtually indistinguishable from human-generated content, requiring urgent action to help the public distinguish between these different types of media.

The first day of the summit will cover a range of AI issues, including election disruption and erosion of social trust due to misinformation. The second day will discuss concrete steps to address AI risks, featuring attendees such as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gomez sees the potential for AI-generated misinformation to be spread by an army of bots as a real threat to democracy and public conversation. The government has also acknowledged that AI development could reach a point where systems pose a threat to humanity.

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