AI does not endanger the world. Yet.
Why am I not concerned about the end of the world that AI will lead to, as some people predict in the media? Because the world is not nearly digital enough (yet) for renegade AGI to do much damage.
For one part this is because of prudence on the side of the designers of digital systems. Not everything needs to be conneted to the internet. Nor feature sensors that would allow it to be controlled from the outside.
On the other hand, few physical assets are truly automated or autonomous. Autonomous cars aren’t a thing yet and the driving assistants out there won’t produce much mayhem (unless the AGI figures out how to fly-by-wire these cars… which will be hard, too because most cars again lack the necessary sensors or systems connections).
And thank the heavens we don’t have a humanoid robot slave workforce yet. Robots would allow renegade AI to take over the reins and break into environments that it couldn’t otherwise access.
So.. don’t worry, yet
In sum, we are not in a state of high enough development, yet, to be truly endangered by AI.
But an AI takeover could lead to widespread systems collapse. Computer failures leading to disrupted supply chains, power plants need to be switched off due to issues with internal regulation, public transport systems that go haywire, even a faulty internet, …and with all that a sharp rise in lack of every-day material goods necessary for our lives can make the world go out of balance. COVID has shown us that the world is resilient and fragile at the same time.
Even when renegade AGI is not a concern, fragility will always be. We need to make sure that the world is resilient in the face of disruptions like climate change and pandemics… and an AGI-induced desaster will be the least of our worries.
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