Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn reveals the 3 existential risks he’s most concerned about

  • Date: 29-Dec-2020
  • Source: CNBC
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn reveals the 3 existential risks he’s most concerned about

Skype co-founder Jaan TallinnCenter for the Study of Existential RiskLONDON – Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn has identified what he believes are the three biggest threats to humanity's existence this century.While the climate emergency and the coronavirus pandemic are seen as issues that require urgent global solutions, Tallinn told CNBC that artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and so-called unknown unknowns each represent an existential risk through to 2100.Synthetic biology is the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems, while unknown unknowns are "things that we can't perhaps think about right now," according to Tallinn.The Estonian computer programmer who helped set up file-sharing platform Kazaa in the '90s and video calling service Skype in the '00s has become increasingly worried about AI in recent years."Climate change is not going to be an existential risk unless there's a runaway scenario," he told CNBC via Skype.To be sure, the United Nations has recognized the climate crisis as the "defining issue of our time," recognizing its impacts as global in scope and unprecedented in scale. The international group has also warned there is alarming evidence to suggest that "important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system,