Timnit Gebru Believes There Is No'Existential Threat' From AI One of AI's fiercest critics believes the doom talk is about founders making money, not saving humanity. As the industry booms, an entirely new vernacular has emerged in the debates over how consequential artificial intelligence really is. Within that new parlance, two phrases have become focal points: stochastic parrots and existential risk . And at the center of is one prominent AI researcher who has never stood down from a fight, Timnit Gebru . Gebru came into the public eye several years ago after sparring with Google over a research paper she coauthored that called out biases in the company's AI, saying that LLMs basically parroted their training data and risked perpetuating biased viewpoints. The contested paper resulted in Gebru's departure from the company, and led her to found an institute that investigates harms perpetuated by technology and supports the creation of unbiased tech tools. She has also authored a new book,, expected to ship early next year. More recently, Gebru has spoken out against a faction of the industry that believes AI is so powerful it could destroy humanity. In turn, some members of that community, including an Anthropic cofounder, have alleged that Gebru's earlier research about stochastic parrots is no longer relevant, and that AI does have the ability to "think" or reason. The AI debate is no longer just about the technology itself, but about ideological groups and strategic narratives, and Gebru believes these narratives are a "harmful distraction" from the real issues with AI. I recently spoke with Gebru about what she believes these arguments are distracting from, and also got her response to critiques that her earlier research underestimates the AI of today.

One of AI's Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is'Meant to Distract Us' Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons. Here at WIRED we've been trying to make sense of at least two incidents in the AI industry this week: First, the major fight over a million-dollar math problem and whether OpenAI surreptitiously borrowed the work of other researchers to solve the problem first. A day later, an Anthropic researcher--who had previously worked at OpenAI--very publicly quit his job, citing concerns about how both companies were handling AI safety. Another technical staffer at Anthropic said in response that people at the company "really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade."

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. U.N. warns of'moral red line' on killer robots; experts say it's already been crossed U.N. and Red Cross leaders warn the world is nearing a "moral red line" on autonomous weapons, urging bans on unpredictable systems and "killer robots" that target people as regulation lags. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.

We can no longer ignore the growing threat of fully autonomous weapons. Should drones be allowed to kill autonomously? For years, we have had unconfirmed reports and rumours that AI-controlled weapons have killed soldiers on the battlefield without a human in the loop. Now, we know it has happened. As we report here, the use of autonomous killers in a test exercise marks a watershed in warfare .

Fully autonomous drones with no human oversight have killed soldiers on the battlefield for the first time. This is according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry, marking a watershed moment in warfare. The one-off test involved 10 AI-controlled "Terminator" drones on the front line of the Ukraine war. "We tried it," says drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy, who supplied the technology and spoke to at a press event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. We never implemented it [more widely]." The test took place two years ago and involved quadcopter drones that were programmed to fly towards the front line, cover between 3 and 5 kilometres over around 10 minutes and then engage "Terminator mode", in which an AI model searches for and intercepts targets. "We just launch it and we know everything will be dead - everything that will be found there in this particular area will be dead," says Kokhanovskyy. "There is no connection to the drone at all, you cannot see the video, ...

What Anthropic's Clash With the Pentagon Is Really About Who will take responsibility for the technology? The weekslong conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense is entering a new phase. After being designated a supply-chain risk by DOD last week, which effectively forbids Pentagon contractors from using its products, the AI company filed a lawsuit against DOD this morning alleging that the government's actions were unconstitutional and ideologically motivated. Then, this afternoon, 37 employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind--including Google's chief scientist, Jeff Dean--signed an amicus brief in support of Anthropic, in essence lending support to one of their employers' greatest business rivals (even as OpenAI itself has established a controversial new contract with DOD). For the past few weeks, Anthropic has been in heated negotiations with the Pentagon over how the U.S. military can use the firm's AI systems.

Outside OpenAI's headquarters, a handful of people gathered on Monday holding pieces of colorful chalk. They got down on their knees and started writing messages on the sidewalk. Please no legal mass surveillance. At issue was a business deal that the company recently signed with the Department of Defense, following the Pentagon's sudden turn against Anthropic . OpenAI will now supply its technology to the military for use in classified settings, the sorts that may involve wartime decisions and intelligence-gathering--an agreement, many legal experts told me, that could give the government wide-ranging powers.

On Wednesday, officials and diplomats sounded the alarm on A.I.'s ability to undermine the integrity of information and fabricate fake voice and video tapes. They also warned that it posed a threat to cybersecurity and would enable the rise of autonomous weapons. Still, some argued that, if used responsibly and with guardrails, A.I. potentially could also help foster peace and stability. Secretary General António Guterres, who for the past year has championed efforts to regulate A.I., said that the Council had a responsibility to ensure the military use of artificial intelligence complies with international law and the U.N. Charter. "From design to deployment to decommissioning, A.I. systems must always comply with international law; military uses must be clearly regulated," Mr. Guterres said, before ending his speech with a warning and a call to action.

Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier has the latest on the pros and cons of the bombshell developments on'Special Report.' The Vatican flag flies outside the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 25, 2015, in New York City. 'PROPER HUMAN CONTROL': A delegation representing the Holy See urged the United Nations this week to put a moratorium on autonomous weapons designed to kill without human decision-making. 'INSANE': Canva is facing pushback from customers over plans to increase subscription prices by more than 300% in some instances. United Nations Headquarters in New York City is seen flanked by Hamas and Hezbollah fighters.

A squad of soldiers is under attack and pinned down by rockets in the close quarters of urban combat. One of them makes a call over his radio, and within moments a fleet of small autonomous drones equipped with explosives fly through the town square, entering buildings and scanning for enemies before detonating on command. One by one the suicide drones seek out and kill their targets. A voiceover on the video, a fictional ad for multibillion-dollar Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems, touts the AI-enabled drones' ability to "maximize lethality and combat tempo". While defense companies like Elbit promote their new advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) with sleek dramatizations, the technology they are developing is increasingly entering the real world.