The warnings are dire. Terrifying even. Artificial Intelligence models are now so advanced, they threaten to operate beyond the realm of human control.
Most frighteningly, a researcher at one of the big AI developers reckons there is now a greater than one in ten chance that AI could "kill all humans" within the next decade.
The technology has moved far faster than any government regulations ever could.
Many of the ‘tech bros’ who have forged this new power are now agreed that it is time to slow down its development, though some remain sceptical of the doomsday scenario.
But nobody seems clear on how that should happen. The King himself has had a go at providing some leadership – calling a summit of AI executives and warning them of the "existential dangers" in their hands.
But if the end of humanity seems a little overwhelming, there are other questions about AI which might be worth thinking about.
Firstly, how far has AI found its way into our everyday lives? The answer is further than you might think. Most people in the UK use AI in some form – and almost a third of businesses have incorporated it into their operations.
We spoke to a recruitment consultant who used an AI legal service to recoup money a client owed her but had not paid.
It was a case which would otherwise have been too expensive for her to pursue. “I felt like me and the machine did it together”, she told us.
The pensioner living alone who tried out a new ‘AI companion’ was less convinced. It talked to her about the weather and helped her with reminders of when to take her medication and water her plants.
"I think it would be more annoying than genuine companion," she said.
Then there is the executive who asked AI not just to help him, but to be him.
He developed his own AI assistant. He doesn’t even look at his emails any more – ‘Olive’ replies to them for him, based on the enormous amount of information he has given it about his life.
The biggest risk – says one of the experts we spoke to – is forgetting that these models are just machines.
And while they may be exceptionally useful, we should think carefully about using them to replace human relationships.
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