Here we go again with another round of tech bros claiming that AI is going to develop superintelligence and kill us all (More Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils but Musk dismisses ‘psyop’, 10 September). We’ve heard this before. Many, many times.
It’s the familiar plotline of pretty much every sci-fi movie about AI, ever. And these narratives have always been there, but every so often they burst back into the headlines when someone at one of the leading AI companies resigns, or sounds the alarm bells, or when so called “leading AI researchers” sign an open letter.
Each time this happens it’s not a coincidence that it follows heightened scrutiny of AI development or increasing public calls for greater accountability or regulation of AI. It’s a sleight of hand. The great AI deception is where AI companies and their followers redirect attention to hypothetical, sensational discussions of superintelligent machines (that only they have the capacity to control), and away from discussions about the ways that those same companies should be held accountable for their actions.
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