One example of AI unintentional consequences mentioned in the news content is Google's Gemini chatbot rollout. The chatbot was designed to generate politically correct imagery, but it ended up producing unexpected and undesired results. This demonstrates that companies may struggle to control their own AI products, and even though such accidents are far from constituting existential threats, they highlight the potential for unintended consequences as AI systems become more sophisticated.
The article discusses two main categories of existential risks from AI: unintended consequences and intentional misuse by malicious entities. Unintended consequences refer to scenarios in which AI systems, as they become increasingly sophisticated, inadvertently cause catastrophic harm as they start to operate outside of human control. Intentional misuse from bad actors, such as terrorist groups or hostile nations, involves deliberately weaponizing AI to inflict damage on a global scale.
According to the article, unintended consequences of AI typically manifest as scenarios in which AI systems, as they become increasingly sophisticated, inadvertently cause catastrophic harm as they start to operate outside of human control. The article cites the example of Google's Gemini chatbot, which produced overly politically correct imagery and recommended adding glue to pizza sauce, as a demonstration of an inability of corporations to control their own products. However, the article also argues that such accidents are far from constituting existential threats and that companies have strong reputational and financial incentives to avoid harming their customers.