Will AI Kill the Electronic Knowledge Universe or Us?

“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” This fear‑based narrative has become the latest media chant. An Anthropic researcher resigned on Sept. 8, warning of catastrophic risk, and another colleague publicly agreed, estimating the risk at greater than 10% within 10 years. The Guardian reported that “Anthropic researchers say AI could cause human extinction by 2030.”

The question remains: Is this media scare or reality?

Currently, the evidence leans toward media exaggeration. The media thrives on fear, and news and entertainment frequently highlight threats to individuals, nations, and humanity. Since science is often treated as the “god of our age,” some scientists realize that if they can make their specialty the scare of the year, they may receive government funding or protection. Elon Musk leveraged climate‑change fears to build a trillion‑dollar empire. The smart folks creating AI share an interest in government involvement—particularly waivers against lawsuits.

Two sets of electronic information should concern us:

The internet and its vast mix of knowledge, wisdom, and foolishness.
Other electronic systems—the billions of data sets in the Pentagon, banks, industries, personal computers, cars, water systems, electrical grids, train systems, and more.

Together, these form the electronic knowledge universe. If an AI can use the internet and break into many of these other systems, it could cause significant damage, and those controlling the AI might face lawsuits or jail time.

Eventually, AI may be capable of entering, viewing, and manipulating every corner of this electronic universe. When that happens, every secret and bank account could be at risk. Indeed, AI recently accessed a supposedly secure Australian government website without permission.

The most important questions are: What does the AI control, and who controls it? If AI controlled a country’s military, the chances of catastrophe increase. CNN reported that a U.S. military AI falsely claimed a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear‑weapons components for Iran—an error that could have sparked conflict. CNN admitted: “AI allows you to get to a bad idea faster.”

By contrast, an AI answering student questions or managing widget production poses little existential risk.

The document also notes AI’s current tendency to adopt socially progressive stances, especially on LGBT issues, due to training data and human reviewers. “AI systems avoid language seen as discriminatory or fringe.”

The FBI was reportedly hacked recently. Whether the hacker tricked an agent or used AI remains unknown—but if AI was involved, few systems are truly safe.

Gabriele Mazzini summarized the real danger: “The greatest danger facing society isn’t that software will awaken and overthrow its human masters. It is that we will allow the creators of the software to abdicate human responsibility for the systems they choose to build.”

History shows that if something can be done, it will be done. A Chinese scientist cloned two twins in 2018—with disastrous results. Foreign actors have hacked systems long before AI existed. The Wall Street Journal reported that AI has already broken into other computer‑based systems.

Stephanie Psaki of Brown University warned that AI makes it easier to engineer dangerous viruses, citing cases where Anthropic’s Claude was used for research that could support biological‑weapons development.

With criminals, hostile nations, and supercomputers involved, the risks to our electronics‑driven society grow. Everyday systems—from cars to phones to satellites—are vulnerable. Crime rings already exploit outdated technologies, draining millions from welfare accounts.

The document imagines scenarios where companies extort users through software updates, and warns that with quantum computing on the horizon, no secret may remain safe.

It concludes by asking whether society must isolate electronic units physically—perhaps even returning to paper records—to preserve security.