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AI poses 'extinction' risk to humanity if it grows too advanced, experts say

A statement signed by dozens of specialists said tackling the risks from AI should be ‘a global priority’ as important as preventing ‘pandemics and nuclear war’.

GLOBAL LEADERS SHOULD be working to reduce “the risk of extinction” from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned today.

A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be “a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”.

ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, demonstrating an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts.

The program’s wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm.

Common worries include the possibility that chatbots could flood the web with disinformation, that biased algorithms will churn out racist material, or that AI-powered automation could lay waste to entire industries.

Superintelligent machines 

The latest statement, housed on the website of US-based non-profit Center for AI Safety, gave no detail of the potential existential threat posed by AI.

The center said the “succinct statement” was meant to open up a discussion on the dangers of the technology.

Several of the signatories, including Geoffrey Hinton, who created some of the technology underlying AI systems and is known as one of the godfathers of the industry, have made similar warnings in the past.

Their biggest worry has been the rise of so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a loosely defined concept for a moment when machines become capable of performing wide-ranging functions and can develop their own programming.

The fear is that humans would no longer have control over superintelligent machines, which experts have warned could have disastrous consequences for the species and the planet.

Dozens of academics and specialists from companies including Google and Microsoft – both leaders in the AI field – signed the statement.

It comes two months after Tesla boss Elon Musk and hundreds of others issued an open letter calling for a pause in the development of such technology until it could be shown to be safe.

However, Musk’s letter sparked widespread criticism that dire warnings of societal collapse were hugely exaggerated and often reflected the talking points of AI boosters.

US academic Emily Bender, who co-wrote an influential paper criticising AI, said the March letter, signed by hundreds of notable figures, was “dripping with AI hype”.

Bender is among the most prominent critics of the debate around large language models like ChatGPT, often pointing out that such algorithms do not actually understand any of the prompts they are given nor the answers they provide. 

“When you read the output of ChatGPT, it’s important to remember that despite its apparent fluency and despite its ability to create confident sounding strings that are on topic and seem like answers to your questions, it’s only manipulating linguistic form,” she wrote in a blogpost on Medium. 

“It’s not understanding what you asked nor what it’s answering, let alone “reasoning” from your question + its “knowledge” to come up with the answer. The only knowledge it has is knowledge of distribution of linguistic form.”

In another blogpost, Bender conceded that there are very real threats to society posed by these systems but that the fanfare, hype and doom mongering has been over the top. 

“Puff pieces that fawn over what Silicon Valley tech bros have done, with amassed capital and computing power, are not helping us get any closer to solutions to problems created by the deployment of so-called “AI”. On the contrary, they make it harder by refocusing attention on strawman problems,” she wrote.

‘Surprisingly non-biased’

Bender and other critics have slammed AI firms for refusing to publish the sources of their data or reveal how it is processed – the so-called “black box” problem.

Among the criticism is that the algorithms could be trained on racist, sexist or politically biased material.

Altman, who is currently touring the world in a bid to help shape the global conversation around AI, has hinted several times at the global threat posed by the technology his firm is developing.

“If something goes wrong with AI, no gas mask is going to help you,” he told a small group of journalists in Paris last Friday.

But he defended his firm’s refusal to publish the source data, saying critics really just wanted to know if the models were biased.

“How it does on a racial bias test is what matters there,” he said, adding that the latest model was “surprisingly non-biased”.

 – © AFP 2023

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    Mute Dave Phelan
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    May 6th 2022, 7:10 AM

    A terrifying reality for loyalists is that they are Irish. British taxpayers just see them as an expensive drain on their taxes. The sooner loyalists realise they live on an island which is off the mainland of Europe the better.

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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    May 6th 2022, 8:21 AM

    @Dave Phelan: The sooner the loyalists realise that GB doesn’t want them anymore the better. They can’t be that stupid to the fact that British people will always see them as them as Irish whether they come from Dublin, Cork or Belfast.

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    Mute JusticeForJoe
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    May 6th 2022, 9:04 AM

    @Joe Johnson: Not an easy thing to admit to oneself though.

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    May 6th 2022, 9:08 AM

    @Joe Johnson: the ROI doesn’t want them either. That’s the problem. I think they realise this. It’s the no one likes us we don’t care attitude.

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    Mute John Mulligan
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    May 6th 2022, 11:03 AM

    @GrumpyAulFella: the Republic doesn’t want rabid unionists or rabid nationalists. There’s a particular mindset in unionist and nationalist ghettos in NI that is toxic, and the last thing we need in a stable Republic.

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    Mute Donal Desmond
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    May 6th 2022, 11:11 AM

    @John Mulligan: Stable Republic? Housing crisis, Homelessness, Crumbling Health service , Billions taken from the economy and Billions yet to be repaid for the gangsterism of the banks facilated by the same political parties now in power .Scandal after scandal. A government that between them have governed this state since it’s foundation and are in government together now just to preserve the status quo. When you recall the Taoiseach Martin stated they was no bank bailout and the future Taoiseach Varadkar under criminal investigation, Is that the stable Republic you comment about.

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    Mute Jaime
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    May 6th 2022, 11:39 AM

    @Donal Desmond: lots of soundbites, but it doesn’t take away the reality for people living in Ireland. were consistently at the to of quality of life rankings, relatively low tax to most of Europe for low paid and a destination for thousands to start a new life. if you can’t tell the difference between 100 years of stability here, and the unstable chaos in northern Ireland, then you’re probably more aligned with the 23% looking to destabilise that peaceful republic.

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    Mute Keith McNair
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    May 6th 2022, 1:04 PM

    @John Mulligan: just because one is born in a stable …

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    May 6th 2022, 1:18 PM

    @Donal Desmond: is there anything in your post there that can’t be said about the state of NI and the UK? I don’t think so. But our standard of living is good in the South, we’re at full employment, our economy is strong. We’ve much to be content about. Back in the 80s you drove across the border northbound onto nice roads, cheap petrol and goods, flashy houses. Now the opposite is true.

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    Mute Angela McCarthy
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    May 6th 2022, 2:08 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: They now realise they are a minority in the north. The next project is to get your tribe of partitionist’s in the south to realise that You too are a bitter lost minority, and the vast majority of decent people living on this island will enjoy, future unity, peace and prosperity, despite all your bitter ranting!

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    Mute Angela McCarthy
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    May 6th 2022, 2:11 PM

    @John Mulligan: John the record is scratched, put down that old worn out Fine Gael book of quotes and replies, and instead post something in your own words, if you can string a sentence together.

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    May 6th 2022, 3:34 PM

    @Angela McCarthy: have you learned how to speak as Gaeilge yet? I don’t know who “your” are supposed to be but the Shinner way has always been to accuse anyone who isn’t a supporter of the political wing of the IRA as a Blueshirt. So I’m guessing that you think that I’m a Blueshirt. That’s hilarious. It’s almost a Putin thing, sue the media (RTE), threaten to shut down the state broadcaster (RTE)when in power, sue your political opposition (Eastwood), sanitise your web site (Russia content removed overnight), label those who do not support your party as fascist Blueshirts. The parallels with Putin’s Russia are stark comrade.

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    Mute Mickey Finn
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    May 8th 2022, 2:47 PM

    @Donal Desmond: You are confusing stable with well run. We have (relative to most countries) no extreme right-wing politicians, an independent judiciary, low levels of corruption by international standards, a police force who aren’t randomly arresting or disappearing people, we not run by a homicidal dictator and our army isn’t constantly taking over the country with coups.

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    Mute Michael Mccahill
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    May 6th 2022, 7:15 AM

    Brilliant article. Great observations, delivered with humour.

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    Mute Pat Casey
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    May 6th 2022, 7:23 AM

    One of the best articles I have read in the Journal in a long while.

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    Mute Brian Burns
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    May 6th 2022, 8:58 AM

    @Pat Casey: refreshing pat

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    Mute stephen keane
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    May 6th 2022, 7:21 AM

    Very good article peter

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    Mute Alan Wilson
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    May 6th 2022, 8:17 AM

    Great article well written and funny.Not getting bogged down too deep if the fact that it’s sectarianism that keeps the DUP in power

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    Mute James Reardon
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    May 6th 2022, 8:04 AM

    Great article Peter.

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    Mute Moss Cotter
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    May 6th 2022, 9:21 AM

    Maybe go into journalism full time Peter you nailed it, it’s odd that an election campaign that as he put it was unusually interesting and energised only had a 54% turn out.

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    Mute Insider at RTE
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    May 6th 2022, 8:12 AM

    Got as far as “mainland” and then quit the article.

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    Mute Brian Burns
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    May 6th 2022, 8:56 AM

    @Insider at RTE: don’t worry mate they will be plenty of copy and paste afp articles coming later..this was a great article I’m so glad one word didn’t sway me from this articulate,humorous piece of writing

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    Mute Peter
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    May 6th 2022, 11:25 AM

    @Insider at RTE: really, to the DUP the mainland is the UK, I didn’t get the opinion he was referring to anything or anyone in the republic thinking that way. You read a single word and assume it’s referring to x which you don’t like and just stop reading, I think that is really sad. How do you ever expect to learn or increase your understanding of world if you just stop engaging the second something displeases you.

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    Mute Misty Eyed Mutton
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    May 6th 2022, 4:00 PM

    @Insider at RTE: Your pursuit of enlightenment and your searching to see the other man’s perspective is inspiring. It’s no wonder you’ve converted so many Unionists to the idea of a United Ireland.

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    Mute François Pignon
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    May 6th 2022, 10:36 AM

    Rees Mogg a devout catholic :) , never would have guessed!

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    Mute Cathal O'Donoghue
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    May 6th 2022, 11:17 AM

    @François Pignon: Actually makes sense if you think about it. In a weird way.

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    Mute E.J. Murray
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    May 6th 2022, 2:12 PM

    @François Pignon: — So was the Nazi Roman Catholic priest who ran Slovakia during WW2, so it’s no evidence of someone being a saintly person :P

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    Mute keyboardwarrior
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    May 7th 2022, 3:29 AM

    @François Pignon: Boris Johnson is a baptized Catholic too, Devout is very a subjective term.

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    Mute Marcus Suridius
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    May 6th 2022, 8:32 AM

    Good article, it will be interesting to see how the results pan out.

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    Mute Pj Berry
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    May 6th 2022, 11:17 AM

    Best overall view of the situation in the North I have read in a long time.

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    Mute Lucy Legacy
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    May 6th 2022, 1:54 PM

    An independent NI would do the trick. Any nationalist has more in common with a unionist at this stage. Shared land and shared history. Sadly too many are unable to see that.

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    Mute Angela McCarthy
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    May 6th 2022, 2:15 PM

    @Lucy Legacy: How about an Independent Munster or Leinster or whatever province you come from Lucy?

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    Mute Rúraíocht
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    May 6th 2022, 3:03 PM

    Great read. Fundamentalism is the issue. Unionism knows it’s place in westminster, that the english are indifferent to its cause. I think as long as they have MP seats they will use their leverage to get what they want, uncontested by SF. For extremists such as DUP there is but obe objective, avoid a UI. Doesn’t matter how bad economy is.

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    Mute J
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    May 6th 2022, 10:34 PM

    London being one of the world’s great cities yet most Londoners couldn’t point Ireland out on a map and therein lies the problem for Ireland for the last several hundred years.

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    Mute Keith McNair
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    May 6th 2022, 1:08 PM

    This article regurgitates the same old tired out commentary, whilst failing to engage at all adequately with the core issues, such as the significant majority of people In NI who do not want this so-called “united Ireland”.

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    Mute Pablo
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    May 6th 2022, 2:35 PM

    @Keith McNair: The topic was about a party stuck in their ways that might be getting left behind by the electorate …. wasn’t anything to do with a united Ireland. And it dealt with it’s topic very well.

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    Mute A Well Known Comical Stereotype AKA PRGuy
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    May 6th 2022, 9:11 PM

    @Keith McNair: “Significant majority” – hardly. That conversation hasn’t started in earnest but it is coming.

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    Mute Speak Freely
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    May 7th 2022, 8:28 AM

    Eamon McCann described them as the ‘lost tribe’ a long time ago, the article is basically a mishmash / regurgitation of others analysis / ideas, didn’t see anything original in it, I can see why southerners with a casual interest in north would like it.

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    Mute Papa Benzo
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    May 7th 2022, 6:54 PM

    What an absolutely fine example of a great article, thanks for the read, I shall be sharing this with colleagues that I have been trying to explain the situation to..

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