The CEO of Google's DeepMind AI lab has outlined that the biggest threat of artificial intelligence isn't the jobs that it'll take and destroy, but instead something far more sinister and dangerous that could change the future for the worse.
It makes sense that the immediate threat that many are worried about when it comes to AI are their jobs, as even with the promises of 'universal high income' from people like Elon Musk, there's little you can do but worry that artificial intelligence will leave you without a career sooner rather than later.
Experts have already outlined the roles most at risk, and there's even predictions that just a handful of jobs will survive the AI revolution as technology is increasingly able to perform tasks that humans train decades for.
However, one of the most powerful individuals in the world of AI has proposed that this isn't actually the biggest danger of AI right now, and we should instead be focused on something far more important for the future.
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Speaking to CNN, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis has outlined his worries around the potential that AI could 'fall into the wrong hands', especially as advancements approach the point of highly capable artificial general intelligence.
Hassabis himself has predicted that this point - which is reached when AI matches or exceeds the capabilities of humans - could be here in less than a decade, so governments and those in control of developing AI must act fast.
"A bad actor could repurpose the same technologies for a harmful end," outlined Hassabis when weighing up the risks of continued AI development. "And so one big thing is... how do we restrict access to these systems, powerful systems to bad actors... but enable good actors to do many, many amazing things with it?"
This isn't the first time that a major AI players has outlined their worries regarding control, as one Jeff Bezos-backed CEO has urged that humans must retain control in order to prevent the technology from being mishandled.
It is already possible to observe the dangers of AI, as the tech is being used by scammers to extort money from people, by hackers to write nefarious code on the black market, and by individuals who create nonconsensual sexual 'deepfake' images and videos to be shared online.
Despite some regulation being put in place so far, Hassabis recognizes that stopping any bad actors from taking advantage of AI as it evolves is going to be extremely challenging.
"Obviously, it's looking difficult at present day with the geopolitics as it is, but, you know, I hope that as things will improve, and as AI becomes more sophisticated, I think it'll become more clear to the world that that needs to happen," he illustrated to CNN.
Some might argue that at that point it'll be too late, however, and one former key DeepMind lead has even suggested that this could lead to humanity's downfall if we're not careful.