Just because we haven't yet destroyed the human race through the use of nuclear weapons doesn't mean that it can't or won't happen now that we have the capacity to do so. And I would add that we developed that capacity in less than 50 years of creating the first atomic bomb. We're now living on a knife's edge and at the merge of safeguards which we don't give much thought to on a daily basis because we hope that they won't fail.
That's how I look at where we're going with AI. Plunge along into the new arms race first and build the capacity, then later figure out the treaties and safeguards which we hope will keep our society safe (and by that I don't mean a Skynet-like AI-powered destruction, but the upheaval of our society potentially as impactful as the industrial revolution.)
Humanity will get through it, I'm sure. But I'm not confident it will be without a lot of pain and suffering for a large percentage of people. We also managed to survive 2 world wars in the last century--but it cost the lives of 100 million people.
That's how I look at where we're going with AI. Plunge along into the new arms race first and build the capacity, then later figure out the treaties and safeguards which we hope will keep our society safe (and by that I don't mean a Skynet-like AI-powered destruction, but the upheaval of our society potentially as impactful as the industrial revolution.)
Humanity will get through it, I'm sure. But I'm not confident it will be without a lot of pain and suffering for a large percentage of people. We also managed to survive 2 world wars in the last century--but it cost the lives of 100 million people.