Man who predicted Covid and 2008 financial crash fears we are heading for economic devastation
Robert Peston has shared a bleak prognosis for the future amid the rising reliance upon AI and warned an economic catastrophe could be on the horizon.
He has been vocal about his opinions on the rise of artificial intelligence in recent weeks in wake of the release of his latest novel The Kill Switch, which is focused around a fictional world where 'megalomaniac technocrats' run the world and malevolent AI super-intelligence threatens humanity.
Worryingly, the plot of Peston's book is becoming increasingly plausible by the day - and he reckons that big trouble might be brewing.
A lot of respectable figures have been throwing out scary statements about AI as of late, including tech titan Elon Musk, who warned it will likely 'exceed the sum of human intelligence' in a few years.
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The Tesla boss also suggested that money will become redundant by 2036, while saying he finds it all equal parts 'exhilarating and terrifying'.
Peston, who is the political editor of ITV News, has also made some educated guesses about what the future might hold in an AI-focused world.
The author previously predicted the global financial crisis in 2008 and the coronavirus pandemic, so his words carry some weight.
In a recent interview, he admitted he is 'genuinely anxious' that a serious financial crash is en route, which he fears ultimately might lead to society 'collapsing'.
Peston also shared his concerns about the prospect of AI and robots 'displacing incredibly large numbers of jobs', leading to further economic turmoil.
He has since expanded upon these points while detailing some further worries he has about the technology which has muscled its way into pretty much every part of everyday life - whether we like it or not.
The journalist, 66, explained that he has immersed himself in the world of AI over the last few years so that he could gain a good understanding of the potential it has...and the perilous aspects of it.
His latest forecast
"My big obsession for about three years has been artificial intelligence and essentially the good and the bad of it," Peston said.
"The good is that, harnessed in the right way, it can make us more productive, it can make us as societies richer.
"But the negative side is potentially hugely serious and troubling - which is the AI super intelligence being somehow created or born with a will of its own and an autonomy."
He then cautioned the world about AI potentially gaining the 'ability to improve itself without any human intervention', adding: "And we’re already seeing that with the latest AI models to an extent.
"The great creators of AI, the experts, warn about the risk of AI becoming this artificial super-intelligence which just decides to rework its own code to eliminate all the protections that the developers have put in to protect humanity."
Peston then reiterated his earlier comments about the prospect of AI wiping out the human workforce and the consequences this could have on the economy and subsequently, society.
He continued: "If millions of people are losing their jobs, where are the tax revenues going to come from to pay for our schools and hospitals?
"These are the big questions that I wish our political leaders were focused on, but they get pushed to one side.
"During the General Election in 2024, I would say to Tom Bradby every night, that the problem with general elections is that nobody’s talking about the biggest economic and social trend of our time, namely AI."
In wake of The Kill Switch hitting the shelves, Peston suggested that the themes of his book - politics and technology - should be what the government is prioritising.
He said that ministers should be debating AI 'more than anything else', saying: "The thing that upsets me most is that this should be the stuff that we’re all debating.
"This [AI] should be the stuff that our leaders should be talking about more than anything else. And they’re not."
He's not the only expert sounding the alarm, as billionaire Paul Tudor Jones also shared a similar sentiment that went even further than Peston's concerns.
Topics: Money, AI, LADwallet, Technology
Olivia Burke