Anthropic researcher backs ex-employee’s AI warning, says human extinction could come within years

Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from the company. Hours after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from the company warning that the race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems could pose an existential threat, another researcher at the company has backed his concerns, saying many AI developers believe the technology could potentially cause human extinction within the next few years.Samuel Marks, Anthropic’s scalable-oversight lead, said Coxon’s thread was “very worth reading” while stressing that he was sharing his views in a personal capacity and not speaking for the company.‘AI could cause human extinction’Offering what he described as a “bird’s-eye view” of AI risks, Marks said developers believe advanced AI could result in human extinction or similarly severe outcomes. He added that the level of concern is generally higher among more senior employees in the industry.Marks said AI companies continue developing increasingly capable systems despite these concerns because of commercial incentives and competition. Developers, he said, fear that other companies could build or deploy the technology less safely or potentially misuse it.‘No robust way to align AI ye...