Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google. (Reuters)
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has joined a growing list of experts who have warned humanity about the potential dangers AI could bring in the future.
As is clear, big tech conglomerates including Google and Microsoft are doubling down on integrating artificial intelligence into their core products such as search. However, time and again, industry veterans and AI experts have foreshadowed what humans can expect in the future if generative artificial intelligence models (LLMs) are not regulated.
Now, as reported by Engadget, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has joined a growing list of experts who have warned humanity about AI’s potential future threats. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council summit, Schmidt said AI poses an “existential risk” that could “kill” people.
He warned that technology should not fall into the hands of “evil people”, or find security flaws in the growing digitization of things.
Schmidt—like others including Geoffrey Hinton—said that in its current state, AI does not pose much of a risk, but the same cannot be said of the future.
Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, known as the ‘Godfather of AI’ left Google citing concerns about its dangers. He claimed that despite the benefits that AI can bring, such as increased efficiency and productivity, the fear of AI overtaking humans and becoming too smart is a valid concern for humans. Furthermore, he said that in the future AI models could soon generate and run their own code – making truly autonomous weapons and killer robots a reality.
Concerned, several industry leaders and experts, including Elon Musk, cognitive scientist Gary Marcus, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter requesting a six-month freeze in development of AI models.
