A recent New Yorker investigation highlights the dangers of artificial general intelligence (AGI), created by tech giants like OpenAI. Despite concerns about inflation and geopolitics, climate change was already a pressing issue in the 1970s. The author’s initial lack of awareness about AI threats made it easy to dismiss them as sci-fi. However, expert warnings from Elon Musk in 2014 emphasized the need for caution.
OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman initially believed AGI could wipe out humanity, but after the company became a for-profit entity, he now sells AI as a means to achieve utopia. The problem lies in the gap between personal AI use and government/military control, leaving voters with a failure of imagination as the greatest danger.
The author questions ChatGPT about entering the permanent underclass, only to receive a neutral response that downplays the threat. This highlights the need for awareness and critical thinking about AI’s potential consequences.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/08/ai-chat-gpt-new-yorker-feature-sam-altman