Geology professor believes AI is more dangerous than supervolcanoes for humanity
Quick Look
- University of Wyoming geology and geophysics professor Kenneth Sims said artificial intelligence poses a greater existential threat to humanity than supervolcanoes.
- He noted humanity's vulnerability to large-scale volcanic eruptions in the United States and Asia, but emphasized that mechanisms have been developed to monitor and predict such activity.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Professor Kenneth Sims of the University of Wyoming compared the risks of artificial intelligence and supervolcanoes, citing historical eruptions such as Tambora in 1815 and Nevado del Ruiz in 1985, which caused global cooling and mass casualties.
University of Wyoming professor of geology and geophysics Kenneth Sims believes that artificial intelligence is more dangerous to humanity than supervolcanoes.
According to Sims, volcanoes in the United States and Asia have the potential for large eruptions, and humanity is vulnerable to such eruptions.
Sims noted that mechanisms have been developed to monitor changes in volcanoes and predict possible eruptions.
WASHINGTON, September 16 - RIA Novosti. Artificial intelligence is more dangerous for humanity than supervolcanoes, the eruptions of which wiped out entire cities, Kenneth Sims, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Wyoming, told RIA Novosti.
"I'd be more worried about artificial intelligence than super-eruptions," Sims said.
According to the geologist, volcanoes in the United States and Asia have the potential for large-scale eruptions. The category of supervolcanoes includes the Long Valley in Los Angeles, the Yellowstone volcano, and powerful eruptions occur in Alaska, the geologist added.
Humanity is vulnerable to large-scale eruptions that could affect populations, the scientist said. The eruption of the stratovolcano Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 cooled the Earth's temperature, killing tens of thousands of people from starvation. In 1985, after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, lahars flooded the city of Armero in Colombia, killing 23 thousand people, the scientist recalled.
Sims clarified that mechanisms have been developed that make it possible to observe changes in volcanoes and predict possible eruptions. Nevado del Ruiz was warned about the beginning of activity a year in advance.
“Artificial intelligence potentially poses an existential threat greater than volcanoes,” Sims concluded.
Open Questions
- What specific mechanisms exist for monitoring volcanoes?
- What time frame for eruption forecasts can be achieved?
- What types of AI are considered the most dangerous according to the professor?
