Tech expert says ‘99.9% chance’ AI robots will wipe out humanity within 100 years in chilling warning

Leading artificial intelligence researcher Roman Yampolskiy has issued a terrifying prediction that AI will cause human extinction within the next century, although some experts disagree

AI expert Roman Yampolskiy has issued a stark warning that the rise of artificial intelligence could spell doom for humanity. The computer boffin, who specialises in AI safety and cybersecurity at the University of Louisville, predicts a whopping 99.9% chance that AI will wipe out mankind within the next hundred years, as per his recent chat on Lex Friedman’s podcast aired last Sunday.

During the lengthy two-hour chinwag, he made the case that no AI system launched so far has been foolproof, expressing doubts about future versions being free from serious glitches. He’s part of a small but vocal group of trailblazing AI developers raising such concerns during President Donald Trump’s AI competition.

Last year, Yampolskiy penned a book titled “AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable,” touted as offering “a broad introduction to the core problems, such as the unpredictability of AI outcomes or the difficulty in explaining AI decisions.”

He explained, “This book arrives at more complex issues of ownership and control, conducting an in-depth analysis of potential hazards and unintentional consequences.”, reports the Express.

He added, “The book then wraps up with philosophical and existential musings, delving into questions of AI personhood, consciousness, and the distinction between human intelligence and artificial general intelligence (AGI).”

Tech boffins note that the original trailblazers of AI, including Yampolskiy, are among those sounding the loudest alarm bells about the potential cataclysmic fallout this tech advancement could unleash.

However, some research challenges Yampolskiy’s doomsday prediction, suggesting a far less menacing threat than his estimates imply.

Studies conducted by the University of Oxford in England and Bonn in Germany found only a 5% chance that AI will wipe out humanity, based on assessments from over 2,700 AI scholars.

“People try to talk as if expecting extinction risk is a minority view, but among AI experts it is mainstream,” warns Katja Grace, one of the paper’s authors. “The disagreement seems to be whether the risk is 1% or 20%.”

A number of top AI gurus have outright rejected claims about AI triggering an apocalypse, including Google Brain co-founder Andrew Ng and AI pioneer Yann Lecun, with the latter accusing tech bigwigs like OpenAI’s Sam Altman of having ulterior motives behind their scaremongering about disastrous AI outcomes.

OpenAI’s Altman has made several unsettling remarks about his sector. He warned that AI will likely obliterate countless jobs, which he dismissed as not “real work,” comments that ignited a firestorm of backlash.

Echoing Altman’s warnings, several AI critics have also sounded the alarm, suggesting that the technology could precipitate a financial meltdown by supplanting numerous employees across all industries without exception.

Over a decade ago, in 2015, Altman made a dire prediction, stating, “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies.”

He also faced intense criticism earlier this year for asserting that the broad adoption of AI would require “changes to the social contract.”

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