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Philp: Should we fear artificial intelligence?

In recent months, public discussion about artificial intelligence has increasingly been shaped by warnings of catastrophe.

In recent months, public discussion about artificial intelligence has increasingly been shaped by warnings of catastrophe. Activists, technology executives, and scientists have argued that governments may have little time to act before increasingly capable AI systems become impossible to control. Just how credible are these claims?

At the centre of these concerns is the idea of recursive self-improvement. The theory holds that an AI system could learn to improve its own software, then use that improved version to make further advances, setting off a rapid cycle of development that could eventually exceed human control.

Philp: Should we fear artificial intelligence? Back to video

The concern is not entirely theoretical. AI systems have already demonstrated limited forms of self-improvement under carefully controlled conditions. Researchers have shown that some systems can modify code, test the changes against established benchmarks, and build on successful results.

AI-assisted systems have also discovered mathematical procedures that had eluded human researchers for years. In narrow and clearly defined........

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