If smart AI is so scary, why even develop it? | Brief letters

Fears for humanity | Man-made problems | King of the Baggies | Evaporated milk’s many uses | New year, new disappointmentProf Geoffrey Hinton claims “we’re going to develop AIs that are smarter than people. And that’s a very scary thought” (‘Godfather of AI’ shortens odds of the technology wiping out humanity over next 30 years, 27 December). The obvious response to this is: if something is “very scary”, why do it?
Máire Davi