There are at least two ways to think about potential threats coming from advanced AI. The conventional view is that AI is just yet another of many too

AI Safety: Technology vs Species Threats - by Elad Gil

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2023-04-02 00:30:02

There are at least two ways to think about potential threats coming from advanced AI. The conventional view is that AI is just yet another of many tool-based technological advances. Like all technologies, the main threat of AI in this scenario is if a human were to use it for nefarious means, or the AI acts badly and needs to be turned off. The alternate, less discussed view is that eventually AI becomes its own self-replicating sentient digital life form, and then there are concerns of competition directly between AI and humans as species competition (versus mere tool use or abuse). This post explores the two different types of threats and their implications.

The most common popular narrative about the risks of AI is to view it through the lens of a tool or technology that is controlled (and abusable) by people (or the AI itself). This viewpoint posits that many technologies that have been good for humans have also been abusable or risky. We have charged ahead with those technologies (everything from fire to cars to nuclear reactors to biotech) and AI is no different - it is just a tool with risks of abuse but also large benefits that make it worth it.

The argument for AI as tool is probably correct in the short run and subsumed by species level risk in the long run. The Technology Level Risk of AI would substantiate either via a person using an AI to do something nefarious, or the AI acting on its own. It may include things like:

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