Ex-Google CEO warns that AI poses an imminent existential threat

 Artificial intelligence has been making headlines for its rapid advancements, from ChatGPT’s conversational prowess to AI-generated art that rivals human creativity. But behind the excitement lies a growing concern among tech leaders: The rise of autonomous AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is among those sounding the alarm, warning in an interview with ABC News this weekend that the next generation of AI could be far more dangerous than the “dumb AI” we see today.

While tools like ChatGPT and other consumer AI products have captured the public’s imagination, they are what experts call “dumb AI.” These systems are trained on vast datasets but lack consciousness, sentience, or the ability to act independently. They are essentially sophisticated tools designed to perform specific tasks, such as generating text or creating images.

Schmidt and other experts, however, are not worried about these systems. Their concern lies with more advanced AI, known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI refers to AI that could possess sentience, consciousness, and the ability to act autonomously — essentially, AI that could think and make decisions independent of human control. While AGI does not yet exist, Schmidt warns that we are rapidly approaching a stage where AI systems will be able to act autonomously in fields like research and weaponry, even without full sentience...<<<Read More>>>...