‘Doomsday Clock’ calls AI an existential threat, “disruptive technology” to humankind

Technology that can upend an established market by adhering to a set of principles is known as disruptive innovation. An innovation can initially targeted at a specific market segment and eventually gain a significant market share, surpassing its predecessor. 

The Doomsday Clock highlights AI’s potential global influence and hazards alongside nuclear threats and climate change.

Atomic experts updated the notorious Doomsday Clock on January 23 to reflect the planet’s impending danger, which placed only 90 seconds from midnight due to various variables, including artificial intelligence (AI). 

Climate change, nuclear threats, and disruptive technologies are among the “existential risks” to the world and civilization that determine the clock’s ticking. On the clock, midnight denotes an “apocalyptic” situation. The 90-second mark is therefore considered “a moment of historic danger.”

 In 1945, experts such as Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer founded the Bulletin of the Atomic scientists.

Challenges and Responses in Technology Advancement

AI has included as a new threat following its explosive entry into mainstream culture in 2023. The scientific publication The Bulletin, which published the Doomsday Clock, described it as the “most significant development” in the disruptive technology field.

“It is obvious that AI is a paradigmatic disruptive technology. Any physical threat posed by AI must enabled by a connection to technology capable of altering the physical world.”

 Along with AI’s growing usage in information operations and the military, it also notes that information corruption made possible by AI may play a significant role in keeping the world from dealing with other pressing challenges.

The report makes note of the fact that numerous nations have already started to acknowledge the issues and have started implementing measures to control and lessen the negative effects of technology.

China was the first nation to enact meaningful AI rules in August 2023. The European Union subsequently passed its interim AI legislation in December 2023; member states will thereafter decide whether to accept them. 

Over the previous year, the United States has emerged as a hub for artificial intelligence development, even though no official legislation has passed. In October 2023, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that established six new AI safety and security criteria.

However, the Bulletin noted that AI and other digital technologies have accelerated authoritarian governments’ ability to monitor citizens’ activities and liberties. 

Concerns have also expressed about AI’s ability to affect political elections through misleading data and news manipulation, particularly ahead of a big global election season in 2024.