Doomsday Clock expert worried about ‘an extremely pressing threat’

When an employee of a major artificial intelligence company recently estimated there is a 10% chance the technology could wipe out humanity within the next decade, Daniel Holz wasn’t surprised.

For years, Holz and other experts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have been monitoring the threat AI poses to life on Earth as they set the hands of the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic representation of how close we are to self-annihilation.

Holz said the group, which evaluates all other major existential threats like nuclear war, climate change and global pandemics, has been growing "increasingly alarmed” about AI. He hoped the ominous prediction would finally help the broader public appreciate the dangers.

“You would think my reaction would be, ‘Oh no that’s terrible,’” said Holz, founding director of the University of Chicago’s Existential Risk Laboratory. “Instead, my reaction was like ‘This is terrific. Finally, we can start having the conversation globally about these risks.’”

Holz said the brewing concerns about AI eerily mirror those that led to the creation of the Doomsday Clock. Scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, which built the world's first atomic bombs, used the clock to warn the public and policymakers that the technology…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/travel/