Breakingviews - Review: Why an AI apocalypse could happen - Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Artificial intelligence doesn't hate you, prominent researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote, "nor does it love you, but you are made of atoms which it can use for something else". This sets the scene for Tom Chivers' fascinating new book, which borrows its title from the quote, on why so-called superintelligence should be viewed as an existential threat potentially greater than nuclear weapons or climate change. The "strange, irascible and brilliant" Yudkowsky is a central figure throughout the book. His early musings on the potential and dangers of artificial intelligence during the mid- to late-2000s gave birth to the Rationalist movement, a loose community dedicated to AI safety. Chivers, a former science journalist with Buzzfeed and the Telegraph, offers a meticulously researched investigation into who the Rationalists are, and more importantly why they believe humanity is fast approaching an inflection point between "extinction and godhood".