Cyber experts are growing concerns that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will dramatically harm society if it is not put in check right now. According to the Daily Star, Britain’s former cyber security chief Ciaran Martin is sounding the alarm that AI could destroy society as it poses the enormous challenge of assessing what is “true and reliable” when it comes to the news and media.
“We’re all struggling to keep up with this,” said Martin, who noted that with much of the development happening in the American private sector it is difficult for the rest of the world, and governments, to keep up. Martin explained that the governments could fall behind on policing AI themselves since, at the moment, most technological advancements are being done by private companies in the United States.
Democracy is also at stake, warned Martin. Referencing the Online Safety Bill, he argued that “you get into very controversial territory,” and such delays only allow AI technology to advance. Martin suggested that governments need to take a “balanced” and “responsible” approach to look into the dangers of AI. He explained that governments need to “get with the industry experts and the academics. They need to test this,” adding that the “hype” does not help the matter.
Martin’s concerns echoes that of top tech experts like SpaceX founder and owner of Twitter Elon Musk who urged technology developers to have a six-month “pause” on any new developments in order to give society time to consider and plan for potential dangers. AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, who quit Google to speak out about the dangers of the technology, also warned that the threat to humanity is “urgent,” and more so than climate change, which he says at least has a potential solution.