I Met the ‘Godfathers of AI’ in Paris—They Told Me to Fear Everything, Trust No One, and Invest in Bunker Real Estate

I used to dream of the future. As a teen, I fantasized about being born in 2090 so I could witness flying cars, colonies on Mars, and maybe even a government that functioned. But after attending a conference on “safe and ethical AI” in Paris, I now lie awake at night wondering if I’ll soon be taking orders from my toaster.

Paris played host to some of the brightest minds in artificial intelligence, or as I like to call them, the prophets of doom in overpriced blazers. The conference brought together two camps: those terrified of AI’s potential to destroy us all in the future, and those pointing out that AI is already ruining our lives right now. It was like a family reunion where half your relatives warn about the apocalypse, while the other half remind you that you’re already broke.

Maria Ressa, a journalist and Nobel laureate, wasted no time letting us know that Big Tech could not care less about the truth. According to her, the identical nonsense spewed by bots online had already poisoned our elections, radicalized uncles on Facebook, and given conspiracy theorists a larger platform than actual scientists. “The internet was supposed to make us more informed,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “but here we are in 2025, debating whether birds are real.”

Meanwhile, the supposed “Godfathers of AI”—a title that is only slightly less threatening than “Masters of the Algorithmic Apocalypse”—warned of existential threats, rogue systems, and worst of all, customer service chatbots that still won’t let you talk to an actual human. “We’re developing something we might not be able to control,” admitted one scientist, nervously sipping his overpriced conference coffee. “But on the plus side, AI can now generate a pretty convincing stock photo of a ‘happy multi-ethnic corporate team.’”

The whole event was, frankly, a mood. Panic, but with canapés. Fear, but catered. Experts agreed that we either need 1) stronger regulation to rein in AI’s abuses or 2) to make peace with a world where deepfakes will replace reality and your grandma might unknowingly wire money to a scammer in the shape of Tom Hanks.

As I left the conference, I asked one attendee how he copes with the weight of knowing AI is both our savior and our doom. “Oh, I just tell myself it’s someone else’s problem,” he replied casually, scrolling through a news article about a self-driving car causing a traffic jam by stubbornly refusing to break a minor traffic law.

So if you’re feeling uneasy, don’t worry—AI experts are too. Their advice? Cross your fingers, hope for the best, and whatever you do, don’t argue with a chatbot. You will never win.