AI expert refutes doomsday predictions and challenges ‘hero scientist’ narrative

Kyunghyun Cho, an associate professor at New York University and a prominent AI researcher, has expressed his frustration toward the current discourse around artificial intelligence (AI) risk. While some researchers have recently warned about the potential threats of AI and have called for regulation or a moratorium on research, Cho believes these doomer narratives are diverting attention from the real issues, both positive and negative, posed by the technology. Cho expressed his disappointment with the lack of concrete proposals related to the regulation of AI’s current harms and a lack of discussions surrounding how to boost the technology’s beneficial uses. Cho also cautioned against glorifying hero scientists in the field. He further cautioned against the Effective Altruism movement that funds many AGI efforts.