Race Against the Machine: Artificial Intelligence, Existential Risk, and Why We Should Pay Attention to the Warnings from Silicon Valley

As a psychologist, I stray into this territory because I believe it to be one of the most consequential issues of our time, and because much of the public narrative has yet to catch up. On 30th November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT and the public relationship with artificial intelligence (AI) changed abruptly. ChatGPT gained 100 million users within two months, and technological development in the field since then has been rapid. There are various technical definitions of the term ‘artificial general intelligence’ (AGI), but the crux is AI that can match or exceed human level performance on essentially all cognitive tasks. Artificial superintelligence (ASI) refers to technology capable of performing all cognitive tasks at levels that far exceed the most capable humans. There is talk of AI providing cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, solving the climate crisis, and bringing about a utopian future of unlimited abundance. Conversely, ASI threatens our utility in the job market, raising prospects of mass unemployment and a crisis of meaning, and may fundamentally change the nature of human relationships. It also presents an existential threat to our species. Leaders in the field, including CEOs of major AI companies, acknowledge these risks. However, they have also stated their intentions to develop ASI anyway, and the industry associated with a ‘move fast and break things’ ethos is racing ever faster toward that goal.