The recent hysteria surrounding the hypothetical extinction risks posed by AI takes critical attention away from the real issues that this tech already has, such as:
- Giving incorrect medical, legal, financial and investment advice.
- Degrading the quality and veracity of some information on the internet, e.g. sloppy, unmaintainable code on GitHub, AI-generated scientific articles and books, etc.
- Sycophantic AI behavior worsening the polarization of public discourse.
- AI reducing the upskilling imperative in students’ education.
- Spam, fraud and cyberattack facilitation.
And of course any widespread job displacement that occurs due to automation.
These all need dedicated work today.