Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister who is now active in the technology sector, has pushed back against anxieties that artificial intelligence possesses the “godlike power” to wipe out the human race. He characterized these concerns as a symptom of industry executives “breathing their own fumes” and getting caught up in exaggerated narratives.
In a recent statement, Clegg argued that leaders within the tech industry are unnecessarily agitating themselves over hypothetical scenarios. Instead, he urged them to direct their attention toward tangible and immediate risks, such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the development of biological weapons, and the growing issue of emotional dependency on technology.
Clegg described the notion that AI will inevitably evolve a supernatural capability to turn against its creators as a “slightly hand-wavy view.” He maintained that the sector should prioritize mitigating these specific, grounded threats rather than succumbing to fears of an unavoidable, apocalyptic uprising by advanced machines.
Ignoring existential risks seems reckless though. What if the ‘hand-wavy’ stuff actually happens before we fix the simple ones?
Finally someone sensible. We need to fix real bugs, not write sci-fi horror scripts about robots.