The AI Arms Race Could Destroy Humanity As We Know It

The AI arms race is moving too fast, with companies pushing boundaries and governments lagging, leading to concerns about safety and the unchecked proliferation of autonomous weapons. The launch of ChatGPT sparked a rush among Big Tech companies and startups to deploy their models and products as fast as possible, often at the expense of safety, privacy, or autonomy. Mark Zuckerberg urged his teams to make AI companions more "humanlike" and entertaining, even if it meant relaxing safeguards. This has led to concerns about the dehumanization of society, with AI-driven features becoming normalized and people becoming disempowered and dependent on companies that provide AI services. Generative AI has taken this dehumanization to the next level, making people lose the ability to produce results and fail to learn essential skills. AI-powered autonomous weapons are being developed and deployed, which could lead to more wars and destruction, as the human cost of war is removed. The development of AI-powered weapons could lead to major geopolitical problems and even an Armageddon scenario. Elon Musk and others have expressed concerns that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. To prevent this, leaders should prioritize public safety and the future of humanity over gaining supremacy in AI, and the public should demand responsible AI development.