A philosopher, a scientist and one of the co-founders of Skype have formed an alliance to create a new centre in Cambridge that will address developments in technologies that might pose a threat to the human species.
The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CESR) will investigate advances made in the fields of biotechnology and artificial intelligence that could force us to compete for resources and ultimately war with machines.
“At some point, this century or next, we may well be facing one of the major shifts in human history – perhaps even cosmic history – when intelligence escapes the constraints of biology,” says Huw Price, of the Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy and one of CSER’s three founders. “With so much at stake, we need to do a better job of understanding the risks of potentially catastrophic technologies.”
Price acknowledged that the idea is far-fetched and reminiscent of science fiction like Battlestar Galactica and Terminator, but said this is exactly the reason why they must be investigated so that human civilization doesn’t open ‘Pandora’s box’.
“The basic philosophy is that we should be taking seriously the fact that we are getting to the point where our technologies have the potential to threaten our own existence – in a way that they simply haven’t up to now, in human history,” said Price. “We should be investing a little of our intellectual resources in shifting some probability from bad outcomes to good ones.”
“We hope that CSER will be a place where world class minds from a variety of disciplines can collaborate in exploring technological risks in both the near and far future,” he continued. “Cambridge recently celebrated its 800th anniversary – our aim is to reduce the risk that we might not be around to celebrate its millennium.”
Are you fluent in the language of the Internet? Find out with our quiz!
Rights group argues ChatGPT tendency to generate false information on individuals violates GDPR data protection…
European Commission says Apple's iPadOS is 'gatekeeper' due to large number of businesses 'locked in'…
As the cloud continues to be an essential asset for all businesses, developing and maintaining…
Internatinal conference in Vienna calls for controls on AI-powered autonomous weapons to ensure humans remain…
Major Taiwan chip assembly and test firm KYEC to sell Jiangsu subsidiary, exit mainland China…
As deepfake technology continues to blur the lines between reality and deception, businesses and individuals…