The future of AI is a topic of contention at the moment, with many prestigious names bringing their conflicting opinions to the table. On one hand there are the pessimists, supported by Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, who warn about the potential threat AI poses to mankind's existence. On the other we find optimists like Mark Zuckerberg, who thinks that such fear mongering is not only negative but also irresponsible.

The idea that artificial intelligence could be dangerous is not new. A particularly widespread hypothesis of an AI doomsday scenario is that of the singularity, the idea that an upgradable superintelligent agent could enter an ever-accelerating cycle of self-improvement until its problem-solving and inventive skills far surpass those of humanity. This agent could then proceed to build an even more intelligent machine and the cycle would repeat itself indefinitely, leaving no room for mankind in the process.

We are obviously …

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