One of the British government’s advisers on artificial intelligence has said humanity could have only two years before AI is able to outwit people, the latest in a series of stark warnings about the threat posed by the fast-developing technology.
Matt Clifford, the chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, which the government set up last year, said on Monday that AI was evolving much faster than most people realised. He said it could already be used to launch bioweapons or large-scale cyber-attacks, adding that humans could rapidly be surpassed by the technology they had created.
Speaking to TalkTV’s Tom Newton Dunn, Clifford said: “It’s certainly true that if we try and create artificial intelligence that is more intelligent than humans and we don’t know how to control it, then that’s going to create a potential for all sorts of risks now and in the future. So I think there’s lots of different scenarios to worry about but I certainly think it’s right that it should be very high on the policymakers’ agendas.
Asked when that could happen, he added: “No one knows. There are a very broad range of predictions among AI experts. I think two years will be at the very most sort of bullish end of the spectrum.” Clifford’s comments reflect growing concerns in government and the technology industry that policymakers around the world have not paid enough attention to the risks that AI poses.