Big tech has distracted world from existential risk of AI, says top scientist

Max Tegmark argues that the downplaying is not accidental and threatens to delay, until it's too late, the strict regulations needed

Big tech has succeeded in distracting the world from the existential risk to humanity that artificial intelligence still poses, a leading scientist and AI campaigner has warned.

Speaking with the Guardian at the AI Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Max Tegmark said the shift in focus from the extinction of life to a broader conception of safety of artificial intelligence risked an unacceptable delay in imposing strict regulation on the creators of the most powerful programs.