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====== List of possible risks from AI ======

//Created 26 September, 2023. Last updated 26 September, 2023.//

Many people are concerned about AI for reasons other than existential risk. Here we list some of these other concerns.((Many of these concerns were raised in response to a tweet by Katja Grace: [[https://twitter.com/KatjaGrace/status/1693873324747862370|https://twitter.com/KatjaGrace/status/1693873324747862370]].))

===== Possible Risks =====

==== Misinformation ====

  * Harder to know what is real.((Bartels. //How to Tell If a Photo Is an AI-Generated Fake.// Scientific American. (2023) [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-tell-if-a-photo-is-an-ai-generated-fake/|https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-tell-if-a-photo-is-an-ai-generated-fake/]].))
  * Deepfakes.((//What are deepfakes - and how can you spot them?// The Guardian. (2020) [[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-how-can-you-spot-them|https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-how-can-you-spot-them]].))
  * Widespread manipulation & scams.((Evans & Novak. //Scammers use AI to mimic voices of loved ones in distress.// CBS. (2023) [[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scammers-ai-mimic-voices-loved-ones-in-distress/|https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scammers-ai-mimic-voices-loved-ones-in-distress/]].))
  * Personalized phishing attacks.((Benishti. //Prepare For The AI Phishing Onslaught.// Forbes. [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/03/prepare-for-the-ai-phishing-onslaught/?sh=74327c5d1925|https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/03/prepare-for-the-ai-phishing-onslaught/?sh=74327c5d1925]].))
  * Misleading voters, or undermining democracy in other ways.((Klepper & Swensen. //AI-generated disinformation poses threat of misleading voters in 2024 election.// PDS. (2023) [[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ai-generated-disinformation-poses-threat-of-misleading-voters-in-2024-election|https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ai-generated-disinformation-poses-threat-of-misleading-voters-in-2024-election]].))

==== Bias ====

  * AI systems exhibit biases, including for attributes which are legally protected against discrimination.((Manyika, Silberg, & Presten. //What Do We Do About the Biases in AI? Harvard Business Review.// (2019) [[https://hbr.org/2019/10/what-do-we-do-about-the-biases-in-ai|https://hbr.org/2019/10/what-do-we-do-about-the-biases-in-ai]].
))
  * Unfair decisions in the justice system,((Dixon. //Artificial Intelligence: Benefits and Unknown Risks.// American Bar Association. (2021) [[https://www.americanbar.org/groups/judicial/publications/judges_journal/2021/winter/artificial-intelligence-benefits-and-unknown-risks/|https://www.americanbar.org/groups/judicial/publications/judges_journal/2021/winter/artificial-intelligence-benefits-and-unknown-risks/]].)) hiring,((Lawton. //AI hiring bias: Everything you need to know.// TechTarget. (2022) [[https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/tip/AI-hiring-bias-Everything-you-need-to-know|https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/tip/AI-hiring-bias-Everything-you-need-to-know]].)) etc.
  * Feedback loop which increases bias over time or encourages the bias to persist: the system is trained on biased data, then applied, which results in more disparate impact, so future systems trained on the resulting data are more biases.((Casacuberta. //Bias in a Feedback Loop: Fuelling Algorithmic Injustice.// CCCB Lab. (2018) [[https://lab.cccb.org/en/bias-in-a-feedback-loop-fuelling-algorithmic-injustice/|https://lab.cccb.org/en/bias-in-a-feedback-loop-fuelling-algorithmic-injustice/]].))

==== Employment ====

  * Mass unemployment.((Vainilavičius. //AI anxiety: the daunting prospect of mass unemployment.// Cybernews. (2023) [[https://cybernews.com/editorial/ai-anxiety-grips-uncertain-future/|https://cybernews.com/editorial/ai-anxiety-grips-uncertain-future/]].))
  * Loss of the sense of worth or dignity people derive from work.((//Dignity at work and the AI revolution.// Trade Union Congress. (2021) [[https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/dignity-work-and-ai-revolution|https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/dignity-work-and-ai-revolution]].))
  * Lossy automation where valuable parts of a process get forgotten.
  * Workers have less say in economic decisions.
  * Economic inequality increases.((Lu. //AI will increase inequality and raise tough questions about humanity, economists warn.// The Conversation. (2023) [[https://theconversation.com/ai-will-increase-inequality-and-raise-tough-questions-about-humanity-economists-warn-203056|https://theconversation.com/ai-will-increase-inequality-and-raise-tough-questions-about-humanity-economists-warn-203056]].))

==== Science ====

  * I would not be able to be on the forefront of knowledge.
  * All the smart people get sucked into working on AI, impoverishing our culture in other ways.
  * If making predictions becomes much easier relative to understanding the world, then science may shift its focus away from understanding.

==== Political Consolidation ====

  * Strengthening authoritarian control.((Shabaz. //The Rise of Digital Authoritarianism.// Freedom House. (2018) [[https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2018/rise-digital-authoritarianism|https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2018/rise-digital-authoritarianism]].))
  * Extremely persuasive propaganda causes people to support terrible governments.((Rizzuto. //AI Propaganda Will Be Effective and Easily Accessible.// Tech Policy Press. (2023) [[https://techpolicy.press/ai-propaganda-will-be-effective-and-easily-accessible/|https://techpolicy.press/ai-propaganda-will-be-effective-and-easily-accessible/]].))
  * Predicting where opposition will arise or who opposes the government leads to an extremely efficient police state.((Mozur, Xiao, & Liu. //‘An Invisible Cage’: How China Is Policing the Future.// New York Times. (2022) [[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/25/technology/china-surveillance-police.html|https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/25/technology/china-surveillance-police.html]].))
  * Facial recognition makes identifying and prosecuting protesters much easier.((Dizikes. //How an “AI-tocracy” emerges.// MIT News. (2023) [[https://news.mit.edu/2023/how-ai-tocracy-emerges-0713|https://news.mit.edu/2023/how-ai-tocracy-emerges-0713]].))
  * Political inequality increases.
  * Big Tech gains more influence through propaganda or lobbying.

==== Widespread Access to Dangerous Things ====

  * Democratization of weapons designs.
  * Making bioterrorism easier.((Sandbrink. //ChatGPT could make bioterrorism horrifyingly easy.// Vox. (2023) [[https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23820331/chatgpt-bioterrorism-bioweapons-artificial-inteligence-openai-terrorism|https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23820331/chatgpt-bioterrorism-bioweapons-artificial-inteligence-openai-terrorism]].
))
  * Widespread hacking((Palisade Research. (Accessed September 20, 2023) [[https://palisaderesearch.org/|https://palisaderesearch.org/]].)) & cyber thefts.

==== Miscellaneous ====

  * Environmental cost of the electricity and water use of data centers.((Dolby. //Artificial Intelligence Can Make Companies Greener, but It Also Guzzles Energy.// Wall Street Journal. (2023) [[https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-can-make-companies-greener-but-it-also-guzzles-energy-7c7b678|https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-can-make-companies-greener-but-it-also-guzzles-energy-7c7b678]].))
  * Possibility of AI-run infrastructure being vulnerable to adversarial attacks.((Comiter. //Attacking Artificial Intelligence: AI’s Security Vulnerability and What Policymakers Can Do About It.// Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School. (2019) [[https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/AttackingAI|https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/AttackingAI]].))
  * Widespread socialization with chatbots makes building relationship between people harder.((Collins. //Could AI do more harm than good to relationships?// Deseret News. (2023) [[https://www.deseret.com/2023/9/6/23841752/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt-relationships-real-life|https://www.deseret.com/2023/9/6/23841752/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt-relationships-real-life]].))
  * Failure of institutions that do not keep up with changes.
  * Loss of meaning from being useful if AI does everything better than me.

==== Existential Risk (x-risk) ====

//(Main article: [[arguments_for_ai_risk:is_ai_an_existential_threat_to_humanity:start|Is AI an existential risk to humanity?)]]//

  * Many thinkers believe advanced artificial intelligence (AI) poses a large threat to humanity's long term survival or flourishing.

==== Suffering Risk (s-risk) ====

  * Powerful which is aligned opposite to human values enslaves and tortures humans.((Baumann. //Focus areas of worst-case AI safety.// Reducing Risks of Future Suffering. (2017) [[https://s-risks.org/focus-areas-of-worst-case-ai-safety/|https://s-risks.org/focus-areas-of-worst-case-ai-safety/]].))
  * AI accelerates competition, leading to a Malthusian trap where everything of value is discarded to be more competitive.((Pethokoukis. //A Nobel Laureate Economist Explains How AI Could Bring Back the Age of Malthus.// American Enterprise Institute. (2018) [[https://www.aei.org/economics/a-nobel-laureate-economist-explains-how-ai-could-bring-back-the-age-of-malthus/|https://www.aei.org/economics/a-nobel-laureate-economist-explains-how-ai-could-bring-back-the-age-of-malthus/]].))
  * Mind uploading appears attractive from the outside, but actually has negative value.

==== Moral Concern for AI ====

  * Mass servitude.((Milinkovic. //The Moral and Legal Status of Artificial Intelligence (Present Dilemmas and Future Challenges).// Sciendo. (2021) [[https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/law-2021-0004|https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/law-2021-0004]].))
  * Normalization of slavery.((Dowdeswell & Goltz. //The ethical concerns over enslaving AI.// The Academic. (2023) [[https://theacademic.com/ethical-concerns-over-enslaving-ai/|https://theacademic.com/ethical-concerns-over-enslaving-ai/]].))
  * S-risk for the AI.

==== Overreaction ====

  * We give up on growth.
  * We become uncompetitive with yet-unseen alien civilizations.
  * A warning shot causes a Butlerian jihad, which leads to the collapse of civilization.
  * Getting locked into a suboptimal partial transhumanist future, or just a plain human-locked future.


===== Notes =====
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