AI's current hype and hysteria could set the technology back by decades

Most discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) are characterised by hyperbole and hysteria. Though some of the world's most prominent and successful thinkers regularly forecast that AI will either solve all our problems or destroy us or our society, and the press frequently report on how AI will threaten jobs and raise inequality, there's actually very little evidence to support these ideas. What's more, this could actually end up turning people against AI research, bringing significant progress in the technology to a halt. The hyperbole around AI largely stems from its promotion by tech-evangelists and self-interested investors. Google CEO Sundar Pichai declared AI to be "probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on".