South Korea summit comes at key moment in global AI debate

THE massive economic opportunity of artificial intelligence is currently driving much market excitement with many investors assuming the nascent technology will turbocharge productivity, and rewire the global economy in the years to come.

However, the risks of AI are also a key global discussion point too. One prominent computer scientist, Geoffrey Hinton, sometimes called “the godfather of AI”, asserts that the technology poses greater global risks even than climate change.

Key business leaders such as Elon Musk have also expressed alarm too, calling for an immediate pause in the development of some such models. The Tesla founder has often warned about the dangers he perceives in advanced AI systems, even signing a letter warning that “out of control” advancement could “pose profound risks to society and humanity”.