🤖 AI extinction?

350 experts think AI poses an existential threat to humanity

May 31, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE 🤖 Experts warn that AI could lead to humanity's extinction 🇨🇳 Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes first China visit in 3 years 💦 All-private space crew return home in Gulf of Mexico splashdown

UP FIRST Over 350 experts think that AI could put humanity at risk of extinction This the second time a large chorus of leaders has spoken out The Center for AI Safety has become the latest body to issue a stark warning about artificial intelligence, claiming that it could present an existential threat to humanity.   "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," the center said in a one-sentence statement released on Tuesday.   Its more than 350 signatories include Sam Altman, boss of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Demis Hassabis, chief of Google DeepMind, and Geoffrey Hinton, often described as "the godfather of AI" for his pioneering work in the field.   On its website, the Center for AI Safety says that while AI has "many beneficial applications, it can also be used to perpetuate bias, power autonomous weapons, promote misinformation, and conduct cyberattacks."   Still, there are those who doubt claims that the technology poses a threat to humanity. Computer scientist and NYU professor Yann LeCun, for example, believes the warnings are overblown and earlier this month said that "the most common reaction by AI researchers to these prophecies of doom is face-palming." Read more

ELECTRIC VEHICLES Tesla CEO Elon Musk quietly made his first visit to China in 3 years Why? China is one of Tesla's largest, most important markets Elon Musk is in China to talk business, though, for a man who loves to tweet, he's keeping remarkably quiet about his trip.   According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry that was shared by CNBC, Musk has said that Tesla is willing to continue to expand its business in the Asian nation, where it already has a sizable production plant in Shanghai.   Tesla's stock value climbed on Tuesday as news broke of a meeting between Musk and China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang.   Qin, a former ambassador to the U.S., said in the same statement that China's electric vehicle market "has broad prospects for development," but added that the country will continue to open up and work on developing a suitable business environment for foreign firms like Tesla.   China is extremely important to the American electric-car maker, with a Reuters report on Tuesday revealing that the country was the biggest market for Tesla's Model Y in the first quarter.   But Musk's visit comes at a tense time in relations between China and the U.S., partly the result of growing restrictions on sales of important technology between the two countries, with both citing national security concerns. Read more

SPACEFLIGHT NASA's all-private space crew returns safely in Gulf of Mexico splashdown The four crewmembers were in orbit for 10 days NASA's second all-private space crew splashed down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday night at the end of a successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS).   The crewmembers – Peggy Whitson, mission commander and Axiom's director of human spaceflight; John Shoffner, a businessman and investor from Alaska; Ali Alqarni, an experienced pilot from Saudi Arabia; and Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical researcher also from Saudi Arabia – flew to the ISS on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after launching from the Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, also operated by SpaceX, on May 21.   The four crewmembers spent their time aboard the orbital outpost living and working alongside the current crew of seven astronauts.   The mission was a joint effort involving Axiom Space, SpaceX, and NASA, and came just over a year after the trio successfully completed their first all-private mission to the ISS.   NASA chief Bill Nelson described the mission as "more proof of NASA's commitment to help our industry partners develop the next generation of space technology and support a growing commercial space economy." Read more

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