AI Ethics: The ethics of racing towards the AI precipice

Abstract, Olle Häggström:

OpenAI and other leading AI firms are racing towards AI so advanced that many experts (including many of their own management and staff) judge it to constitute an existential risk to humanity. This talk will explore the ethics of this situation, and address the question of whether it is defensible to take part in such a race.

Bio:

Olle Häggström is a professor of mathematical statistics at Chalmers University of Technology, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The bulk of his research qualifications are in probability theory and statistical mechanics, but in recent years his interests have shifted towards existential risk and AI safety.

He has worked on AI policy both on the national and the EU levels, as well as in the World Economic Forum. An expanded edition of his latest book Tänkande maskiner: den artificiella intelligensens genombrott was published in November 2023.