The Existential Risk of AI

The discourse surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential existential risks can often feel like navigating a labyrinth of dystopian tropes, scientific theories, and philosophical quandaries. It's a whirlwind of confusion that can feel as abstract as a late-night conversation about the nature of reality itself. It's easy to find yourself ensnared in a spaghetti of conjecture, hypothesis, and fear.

But this isn't just about the nightmare scenarios you see in sci-fi movies. It's about fundamental questions that lie at the intersection of science, philosophy, and ethics. What does it mean to be human in a world where machines can out think us?

Intelligence is in the process of being redefined. In the maelstrom, we’ve found ourselves grappling with not only the definition and measurement of intelligence but also its function. A core aspect of this debate is this: if AI is smarter, faster, and more capable than humans at processing information, making decisions, and initiating actions in the physical world, is AI compatible with human flourishing?

What happens when we cede control to entities that reason in ways we don't understand, or worse, ways we abhor? What if AI, in its quest for efficiency, locks us into existing power structures, magnifying inequality on an unprecedented scale? These issues are becoming ever more pertinent as AI continues to advance.