AI experts list the real dangers of artificial intelligence

A 100-page report written by artificial intelligence experts from industry and academia has a clear message: Every AI advance by the good guys is an advance for the bad guys, too. The paper, titled "The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence: Forecasting, Prevention, and Mitigation," calls this the "dual-use" attribute of AI, meaning the technology's ability to make thousands of complex decisions every second could be used to both help or harm people, depending on the person designing the system. The experts considered the malicious uses of AI that either currently exists or could be developed over the next five years, and broke them out into three groups: digital, physical, and political. The report paints a bleak picture of our potential future, especially since the timeframe is a mere five years. But it doesn't mean we're resigned to dystopia.