It is one thing for the computer scientists to warn that artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity in some science fiction-style cataclysm – an event that, while plausible, still feels rather distant.
But when Sir Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, warns that AI is “already supercharging the cybersecurity contest between attackers and defenders” and is producing “tailored” propaganda to radicalise individuals, the existential threat feels much more tangible, if not imminent.
