Artificial intelligence systems will not destroy humanity unless programmed to do so, according to Near Protocol co-founder Ilya Polosukhin in an interview with CNBC.
“AI is not a human, it is a system. And a system has a goal. Until someone says ‘let’s kill all humans,’ it won’t do so magically,” he said.
Polosukhin added that AI lacks economic incentives to annihilate humanity. However, as a tool, neural networks could be employed for such purposes.
“If someone uses AI to create biological weapons, it is no different from attempting to create them without AI. Wars are started by people, not AI,” noted the Near Protocol co-founder.
Dismissing fears about AI posing an existential threat to humanity, Polosukhin highlighted more pressing issues regarding the technology’s societal impact. He pointed to the potential dependency on entertainment systems driven by neural networks.
“A more realistic scenario is that we simply become addicted to the dopamine provided by these systems,” he warned.
The developer emphasized that many AI companies “are just trying to entertain us” and are implementing the technology not for genuine technological innovation, but to become more appealing to people.
Earlier, Elon Musk identified artificial intelligence as his primary concern.
In June, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed worries about AI censorship.
Experts from Near Foundation have stated that neural networks could undermine Web3 and decentralization.