Be afraid be very afraid

High tech threat to human society

- SEAN MURPHY

ARTIFICIAL intelligence's threatening spectre encompasses everything from cloning voices, taking jobs and changing the course of elections, according to worried critics.

As recently as 30 years ago, AI technology such as autocorrect, so-called "chatbots" and facial recognition were in the realm of science fiction.

But now AI can write poems and novels, clone voices, and even create full songs by artists that were never recorded.

Videos on YouTube show Paul McCartney singing John Lennon's famous song Imagine and hits by the Beach Boys, while Tom Hanks has said that AI is now so advanced he could be starring in new films when he is dead.

Critics of AI, like American television writers of the Writers' Guild of America union that is currently protesting in the US against AI tech, claim it is an infringement of intellectual property rights.