The risks posed by artificial intelligence demand serious consideration

Amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the risk of nuclear war is now larger than it has been since the end of the Cold War. The spectre of nuclear annihilation, once thought a thing of the past, has returned. While technology can avert some forms of annihilation, for example by diverting major asteroid strikes, these naturally occurring risks are likely small, evidenced by our long history free from them. The same cannot be said for those caused or exacerbated by technology. Nuclear war, climate change, engineered bioweapons, and even pandemics: these risks are unfortunately all too familiar.