On 2 August 1939, Albert Einstein – at that time the most famous scientist in the world – put his name to a letter addressed to President Franklin D Roosevelt. In it he warned that the Nazis might be developing an atomic bomb and could bring about a chain of events that would lead to the end of civilisation.
Einstein urged the United States to begin work on its own atomic weapons to save humanity. His warning changed the course of history. The Manhattan project was born and the United States won the race to make the A-bomb.
Self-awareness is not a strong point in these would-be Cassandras
This week a group of tech sector luminaries, including Twitter owner Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, launched their own version of Einstein’s dramatic intervention. They issued a blood-curdling warning that the ‘out of control’ race to develop giant artificial intelligence (AI) digital technologies posed an unprecedented danger to the very survival of the human race.
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