An AI researcher who recently resigned from Google DeepMind warned humanity is running out of time to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) from causing widespread harm, the latest staffer to voice concerns about the direction of the technology.
"At Google, I witnessed AI development first hand. I too am extremely concerned by the default trajectory of this technology. I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us all,” Bilal Chughtai wrote on Sept 14 on both X and LinkedIn, adding that he worked on AI safety and alignment while at the Alphabet Inc company. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bilal is the latest AI researcher to voice grave concerns in recent days about the new technology’s evolving but misaligned capabilities that could eventually destroy humankind. Earlier this month, Jacob Coxon, a rank-and-file AI developer, quit his job and accused both his former employers – Anthropic PBC and OpenAI – of "gambling with our lives” by "racing toward super-intelligent AI.”
Over the weekend, Anthropic chief executive officer Dario Amodei published a 3,800-word essay urging the AI community to slow the development of the most advanced systems in order to prevent them from slipping beyond human control and inflicting catastrophic harm. In a rare show of unity, Amodei’s missive was endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceXAI chief Elon Musk.
But Bilal said he’s optimistic that it’s still possible to navigate AI safely, and his next role will be focused on that. His LinkedIn profile says he’s now working for BlueDot Impact, a non-profit training people in different fields on AI safety. – Bloomberg
