{"id":83180,"topic":"ai","source":"whyy.org","title":"AI doomerism: will artificial intelligence spiral out of control? - whyy.org","url":"https://whyy.org/episodes/ai-doomerism-will-artificial-intelligence-spiral-out-of-control/","url_hash":"1d65434d2ad8a2a43501c1e57b1ec7529de0819d","author":"","summary":"<a href=\"https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilAFBVV95cUxQWjZzT0ZoR044ZkpkSXk4UkNuRFhzQXFmei1kakZrMDE0MDB3RHJJYWt0TjZfSmRoSS1xZE44XzZWaVJFWTdiekFIckQzZ3UzTnVoWkNfSzhoekctcjNVSkQzRHUwbDc1LXVOYWMwbkc2eVdTaWVOdHFCdzZpUElPb2tEZi1XM1N1VG9GdDNGMXNBNUlC?oc=5\" target=\"_blank\">AI doomerism: will artificial intelligence spiral out of control?</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color=\"#6f6f6f\">whyy.org</font>","content":"Fears that AI could spiral out of human control have broken into the mainstream. The worry has been building for some time but last week an AI researcher’s public resignation over safety concerns pushed it into the wider public conversation.\nJacob Coxon, who worked at OpenAI and Anthropic, quit, writing on X that the two companies are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.” He added that the people building the AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Tens of millions have viewed his posts. Then a current Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger agreed, posting, “Jacob is correct here – we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it’s greater than 10% within the next decade.”\nThese comments broke through and now the media, tech and political leaders are all weighing in. 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And if so, what about China, and the risk of unbounded AI development there?\nGuests:\n- Alex Turner, former Google DeepMind scientist\n- Cade Metz, New York Times technology reporter\n- Sayash Kapoor, incoming professor at the UC Berkeley","image_url":"https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AP25238676920343.jpg","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-15T19:32:26+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-15T21:15:04+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"Fears that AI could spiral out of human control have broken into the mainstream. 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The worry has been building for some time but last week an AI researcher’s public resignation over safety concerns pushed it into the wider public conversation.\nJacob Coxon, who worked at OpenAI and Anthropic, quit, writing on X that the two companies are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.” He added that the people building the AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Tens of millions have viewed his posts. Then a current Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger agreed, posting, “Jacob is correct here – we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it’s greater than 10% within the next decade.”\nThese comments broke through and now the media, tech and political leaders are all weighing in. 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And if so, what about China, and the risk of unbounded AI development there?\nGuests:\n- Alex Turner, former Google DeepMind scientist\n- Cade Metz, New York Times technology reporter\n- Sayash Kapoor, incoming professor at the UC Berkeley","excerpt":"Fears that AI could spiral out of human control have broken into the mainstream. 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