Dark side of AI: Potential consequences of emotionless machines could impact humanity

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

artificial intelligence (AI). Its sophisticated capabilities amplified concerns about AI becoming so advanced that soon we would not be able to control it. This even led some experts and industry leaders to warn that the technology could lead to human extinction. Other commentators, though, were not convinced. Noam Chomsky, a professor of linguistics, dismissed ChatGPT as «hi-tech plagiarism». For years, I was relaxed about the prospect of AI's impact on human existence and our environment. That's because I always thought of it as a guide or adviser to humans. But the prospect of AIs taking decisions — exerting executive control — is another matter. And it's one that is now being seriously entertained. One of the key reasons we shouldn't let AI have executive power is that it entirely lacks emotion, which is crucial for decision-making. Without emotion, empathy and a moral compass, you have created the perfect psychopath. The resulting system may be highly intelligent, but it will lack the human emotional core that enables it to measure the potentially devastating emotional consequences of an otherwise rational decision.

Importantly, we shouldn't only think of AI as an existential threat if we were to put it in charge of nuclear arsenals. There is essentially no limit to the number of positions of control from which it could exert unimaginable damage. Consider, for example, how AI can already identify and organise the information required to build your own conservatory. Current iterations of the technology can guide you effectively through each step of the build and prevent many beginner's mistakes. But in future, an AI might act as project manager and coordinate the build by selecting