Earlier this year, we received a tip from a former Silicon Valley executive: that there was a conspiracy in progress to overthrow the United States government, in what was described as “a slow-motion, soft coup.” The twist was that it wouldn’t be a strongman replacing the American government. It would be artificial intelligence.
This eventually led us to creating our new series: The Last Invention . Because what started as a strange tip turned into a months-long investigation into the larger debate about what should be done — and done soon — about the impending AI revolution.
About the role of humanity in a world of intelligent machines.
About the nature of intelligence itself.
And about whether the AI systems now on our doorstep will bring about a future of abundance, the end of our species or some other future now impossible to envision.
These are the very human stories behind that vision — the people who have spent decades chasing the dream, those who warn of the nightmares that may ensue if they succeed…and those who regret ever having put their hand to building it.
