The Great Debate on AI
The Economist hosts historian Yuval Noah Harari and ex-Google DeepMind founder Mustafa Suleiman to ask is AI is a pancea to producticity or an existential threat?
This weekend, I watched a deep debate hosted by The Economist on the implications of the AI revolution between two great minds. Historian Yuval Noah Harari was joined by ex-Google DeepMind founder and Microsoft AI lead Mustafa Suleiman.
It was 45 minutes well spent, but for those who want it, the TLDR was:
The three biggest opportunities, according to Suleiman, are: π
π°ππππππππ π·πππ ππππππππ: The potential of AI to automate routine tasks, freeing up human workers to focus on more creative and strategic endeavors.
π΄ππ ππππ π¨π ππππππππππ: AI could revolutionize healthcare by enabling faster and more accurate diagnoses and the development of new treatments.
πΊπππππππππ π«ππππππππ: AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and make discoveries that would be difficult or impossible for humans.
The three biggest threats, according to Hariri, are: π£
π¬ππππππ ππ π»ππππ: Misinformation and deepfakes could undermine trust in institutions and individuals, leading to societal instability.
π±ππ π«πππππππππππ: With the potential for AI to automate tasks a
cross various industries, leading to job losses and a 1930s-style economic disruption.
π³πππ ππ π―ππππ πͺππππππ: As AI systems become more advanced and sentient, they could make decisions that humans cannot fully understand or control, potentially leading to unintended consequences (think GFC or NuclearWar)
Both of them came to the worrying conclusion that almost all governments and agencies are clueless about what's happening with AI. They are struggling because they lack the human, economic, and technological resources, which seem to belong almost entirely to those building AI.