With so much hype about the future of AI safety, it can be easy to overlook the harms AI is causing in the here and now.
On the consumer side, the impact generative AI has on the developing mind is becoming increasingly clear: students are losing critical thinking skills as chatbots become cognitive crutches, spurning human friends in favor of AI companions, and even turning to self-harm when their AI-relationships go awry.
Few tech executives have acknowledged these urgent harms. Instead they’re choosing to push a narrative around the hypothetical threat of a runaway “superintelligence” which humans can no longer control. That’s why it’s notable that Jensen Huang, CEO of the AI chipmaking titan Nvidia, was recently grilled on the cognitive harm AI is inflicting on students.
Unfortunately, his response was far from reassuring, providing further proof of the AI industry’s blatant disregard for the wellbeing of ordinary people.
