🔮 Does AI present an existential risk?

Will AI kill us all? As readers of Exponential View will know, I doubt it. In fact, I profoundly doubt it and largely believe the AI doom narrative is quite unhelpful. See, for example, my essay dissecting p(doom) to understand the assertions behind existentialist arguments:However, I’m also really interested in checking my assumptions, challenging my thinking — and helping you make up your own mind. To that end, we come to my latest conversation with a guest who thinks we are (almost) doomed. Connor Leahy is the co-founder and CEO of Conjecture, an AI startup working on controlling AI systems and aligning them to human values. He’s also one of the most prominent voices warning of AI existential threats. In this conversation, Connor and I go into…* How Connor perceives AI risks to humans, from the mundane to the existential.* Is it too late to co-evolve safeguards to manage AI risks, as we have with the Internet and cybersecurity?* Which technological methods could lead to developing safe AGI?* Are compute regulation, strict liability laws, a global kill switch, and public participation the right approaches to AI safety?Timetamps:00:00 Introduction01:05 The “Pause AI” letter07:00 Co-evolution of safeguards10:05 The speed of change22:01 Turning the safety agenda into action30:30 Compute as a means for control36:05 Practical approaches to AI safety50:38 The promise of AI57:58 Building safe and aligned AI01:05:46 Hopes for the year to comeWhere to find Connor:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-j-leahy/ X: https://twitter.com/npcollapseConjecture: https://www.conjecture.dev/about Where to find Azeem:Website: https://www.azeemazhar.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AzeemExponentiallyX: https://twitter.com/azeem This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exponentialview.co/subscribe