The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I.
Both are human-caused, both are frightening, and one of them has raced to the forefront of the global conversation.
New warnings that humans are flirting with out-of-control artificial intelligence raise an uneasy question: has A.I. surpassed climate change as one of humanity’s gravest risks?
Though the danger of the technology is hard to assess, the worst-case scenario — human extinction — makes other earthly concerns seem small.
Yes, climate change is creating dangerously hot conditions, fueling superstorms and killing crops, and it may lead to planetary upheaval. But that only matters if our civilization is still recognizable.
“In terms of things that could be the end of humanity, I think A.I. is a bigger risk,” said Toby Ord, a researcher at Oxford University and author of “The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.”
All of this leaves climate activists competing for a finite pool of political consideration. As diplomats and world leaders gather at the United Nations this week to grapple with the planet’s most pressing problems, some worry that global warming could be overlooked even as it worsens.
When President Xi Jinping of China meets in Washington on Thursday with President Trump, the leaders of the countries that produce the most greenhouse gases are expected to discuss A.I. safety, among other issues. Climate change, which Mr. Trump dismisses as a “con job,” is unlikely to be on the agenda.
