Business Leaders Express Concern Over AIs Potential to Destroy Humanity Survey Finds

Artificial Intelligence: A Threat to Humanity?

Introduction

Many business leaders are seriously concerned that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity in a not too distant future. In a recent poll, 42 percent of CEOs at this week’s Yale University CEO Summit said AI has the potential to destroy humanity in 5 to 10 years.

Divergent Views

“It’s dark and troubling,” said Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. The poll, conducted during a virtual event hosted by the Institute for Executive Leadership, has found little consensus on the risks and opportunities associated with AI.

The survey included responses from 119 CEOs from a wide range of companies, including Walmart CEO Doug McMillion, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey and leaders of IT companies such as Xerox and Zoom, as well as CEOs from Pharma, Media and Manufacturing.

Predictions and Skepticism

And while business leaders are sharply divided on how dangerous AI is to civilization, 34% of CEOs said AI could destroy humanity within ten years, while 8% said it could happen within five years, while 58% of CEOs said. that this will never happen and they “aren’t worried”.

In a separate question, the survey found that 42% of CEOs surveyed say the potential disaster of AI is exaggerated, while 58% say it is not.

Concerns and Calls for Action

The findings come just weeks after dozens of AI industry leaders, academics and even some celebrities signed a statement putting in guard against the risk of “extinction” of AI. The statement, signed by OpenEL CEO Sam Altman, “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence” Jeffrey Hinton and executives senior of Google and Microsoft, calls on the company to take steps to protect itself from the dangers of artificial intelligence. .

“Mitigating the extinction risk of AI should be a global priority alongside other societal risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement read.

Recently, the godfather of artificial intelligence, Hinton, decided to sound the alarm about the technology he helped develop after worrying about how smart it would be. “I’m just a scientist who suddenly realizes these things are getting smarter than us,” he said. we.”

He explained that if AI becomes “smarter than us, it will be very good at manipulation,” including “bypassing the limits we put on it.”

Potential Opportunities and Industry Transformation

And as business leaders discuss the risks of AI, CEOs surveyed by Yale University show some degree of agreement on rewards. Only 13% of CEOs say the potential opportunity for AI is exaggerated, while 87% say it isn’t.

According to CNN, CEOs have indicated that artificial intelligence will have the greatest impact in bringing about a transformation in three major industries, and 48% of respondents saw the top industry as healthcare, while 35% of business leaders saw the services sector. information technologies are in second place, while 11% of them stated that the third sector is i media digital.

Immediate Impacts

And as some inside and outside the tech world discuss AI doomsday scenarios, there are likely to be more immediate impacts, including risks of disinformation and job losses.

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