Paul Edwards, a Stanford University fellow who spent decades studying nuclear war and climate change, considers himself "an apocalypse guy." So Edwards jumped at the chance in 2018 to help develop a freshman class on preventing human extinction. Working with epidemiologist Steve Luby, a professor of medicine and infectious disease, the pair focused on three familiar threats to the species - global pandemics, extreme climate change and nuclear winter - along with a fourth, newer menace: advanced
  • RennederOPM
    2·
    1 year ago

    • Paul Edwards of Stanford University considers himself a “man of the apocalypse” and has developed a freshman course on preventing human extinction.

    • Together with epidemiologist Steve Luby, they focused on three familiar threats to the species: global pandemics, extreme climate change and nuclear winter.

    • They also view advanced artificial intelligence as a threat, calling it “super-serious”.

    • At Stanford, Open Philanthropy awarded Love and Edwards more than $1.5 million in grants to launch the Stanford Existential Risk Initiative.

    • Critics call the AI ​​security movement unscientific and say its existential risk claims may sound closer to religion than research.

    • Edwards still sees climate change as a big threat, but he thinks the security of artificial intelligence should be considered.