How risky is AI, really?

In recent weeks, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has said artificial intelligence (AI) is riskier than North Korea and he has called on the United Nations to ban autonomous weapons before they turn into killer robots. Musk has also reportedly called for AI regulation, saying AI is a "fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization" and he said Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's rosier spin proves "his understanding of the subject is limited." It is a decidedly grim view of a technology infiltrating the marketing industry via channels like customer service, search and data analysis. So how worried are marketers exactly? For her part, Jenna Niven, creative director at ad agency R/GA, noted AI has been around for a long time and is already integrated into processes we use every day, like Gmail sorting spam or Netflix recommending content, but only now are we starting to see AI in the forefront of user experiences like Alexa and self-driving cars, which means it is assuming a more obvious role in our lives.