Steven Pinker on AI poses an existential threat to human…

Steven Pinker

Cognitive scientist and author

I'm on record as being skeptical of that scenario and dubious about the value of putting a lot of effort into worrying about it now.

AI Verified source (2020)

8mo ago

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AI poses an existential threat to humanity

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AI Verified The quote clearly conveys skepticism toward the scenario in question and says the author doubts the value of worrying about it now, which implies opposition to the claim that AI poses an existential threat to humanity. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

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AI Verified The quote says the author is “skeptical of that scenario” and “dubious about the value of putting a lot of effort into worrying about it now,” which indicates opposition to the claim rather than support. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

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AI Verified ai_verified: The Future of Life Institute transcript for the June 15, 2020 podcast attributes this statement to Steven Pinker. In the transcript, Pinker says these words in response to a question about whether superintelligent AI poses an existential risk; the quoted text appears verbatim within his sentence, with only a brief leading interjection before it. ([futureoflife.org](https://futureoflife.org/podcast/steven-pinker-and-stuart-russell-on-the-foundations-benefits-and-possible-existential-risk-of-ai/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

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