Josh Engels, who recently left Google DeepMind’s AGI safety team, has warned that artificial intelligence could cause “immense harm” in the next five years, arguing that AI companies may be moving towards superintelligence faster than researchers can ensure the technology is safe.
Two days after Engels announced his exit in the X post, another Google DeepMind researcher revealed that he too had quit the AI lab over safety concerns. (Also read: Google researcher says AI may ‘kill us all’ in exit post: ‘We might be running out of time’ ) (Also read: ‘We really believe AI could kill all humans’: Anthropic safety lead after co-worker resigns ) Instead, he believes the stakes surrounding AI development have become too high. “To some of my friends and family this seemed like a strange decision: I enjoyed the work I did at GDM and turned down offers from Anthropic and OpenAI.
Because he was unhappy with his work there, engels said his decision to leave Google DeepMind was not. Because of how high I think the stakes are right now,” he wrote, but I made the decision.
In a post on X, Engels said he left Google DeepMind three weeks ago to join AI evaluation organisation METR, despite enjoying his work at the company and turning down offers from rival AI labs Anthropic and OpenAI.
