Why Artificial Intelligence Researchers Should Be More Paranoid

LIFE HAS GOTTEN more convenient since 2012, when breakthroughs in machine learning triggered the ongoing frenzy of investment in artificial intelligence. Speech recognition works most of the time, for example, and you can unlock the new iPhone with your face.

People with the skills to build things such systems have reaped great benefits—they’ve become the most prized of tech workers. But a new report on the downsides of progress in AI warns they need to pay more attention to the heavy moral burdens created by their work.

The 99-page document unspools an unpleasant and sometimes lurid laundry list of malicious uses of artificial-intelligence technology. It calls for urgent and active discussion of how AI technology could be misused. Example scenarios given include cleaning robots being repurposed to assassinate politicians, or criminals launching automated and highly personalized phishing campaigns.

Read the full article in Wired.