• Is AI a threat to humanity? Why there is reason to worry

    Why are so many experts suddenly worried whether artificial intelligence will kill us all? Let's walk through the basics of AI to find out.       

  • Reining in the AI Threat With Legal Liability

    Discover how legal liability could ensure ethical AI, slow innovation, and build public trust.

  • The existential threat from AI – and from humans misusing it

    Roger Haines writes that there is no evidence of AI sentience, while Prof Paul Huxley recalls Asimov’s laws of robotics, and Phyl Hyde says fears of AI are being overblownRegarding Jonathan Freedland’s article about AI (The future of AI is chilling – humans have to act together to overcome this threat to civilisation, 26 May), isn’t worrying about whether an AI is “sentient” rather like worrying whether a prosthetic limb is “alive”? There isn’t even any evidence that “sentience” is a thing. More...

  • The Download: AI films, and the threat of microplastics

    This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Welcome to the new surreal. How AI-generated video is changing film. The Frost nails its uncanny, disconcerting vibe in its first few shots. Vast icy mountains, a makeshift camp of military-style tents, a…

  • Tech leaders warn of AI extinction threat

    Technology companies including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic warned AI could lead to the extinction of humanity.

  • Terror Watchdog Says AI Could Be a Threat to National Security

    UK's terror watchdog has raised the alarm on AI potentially threatening national security.

  • Experts warn rapid AI development is a threat to the world

    Earlier this week, the Center for AI Safety put out a statement that’s sobering both in its content and in its brevity. Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war. The 1,100 signatures on this statement include well-known AI researchers at universities including Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. There are CEOs of dominant AI companies such as Open AI and Anthropic; the officers in charge of AI...

  • AI poses national security threat, warns terror watchdog

    Security services fear the new technology could be used to groom vulnerable peopleThe creators of artificial intelligence need to abandon their “tech utopian” mindset, according to the terror watchdog, amid fears that the new technology could be used to groom vulnerable individuals.Jonathan Hall KC, whose role is to review the adequacy of terrorism legislation, said the national security threat from AI was becoming ever more apparent and the technology needed to be designed with the intentions...

  • A 'substantial number' of jobs in the civil service are under threat from AI robots

    A Whitehall document predicted automation will spell the end of junior back-office roles with 'no citizen interaction' in the near future.

  • Patricia Arquette on High Desert, Gonzo Girl, and the threat of AI

    The actor tells us how she ended up starring in High Desert

  • Human extinction threat 'overblown' says AI sage Gary Marcus

    Ever since the poem churning ChatGPT burst on the scene six months ago, expert Gary Marcus has voiced caution against artificial intelligence's ultra-fast development and adoption.But against AI's apocalyptic doomsayers, the New York University emeritus professor told AFP in a recent interview that the technology's existential threats may currently be "overblown.""I'm not personally that concerned about extinction risk, at least for now, because the scenarios are not that concrete," said Marcus...

  • Can sci-fi films teach us anything about an AI threat?

    Researchers have cited the plot of Pixar's WALL-E in a series of AI "disaster scenarios".