Saffron Huang

Hi, my name's Saffron Huang.

I'm a researcher on AI safety who is on the founding team of the UK AI Security Institute.

And I've just worked on the BBC Radio 4 audio drama, Wraith, as the show's AI consultant.

Wraith is a four-part thriller about a loss of control event.

That's where an AI system starts taking actions its operators never intended, and the people responsible for it can't stop it.

We've actually seen small-scale versions of this already.

For example, earlier this year, a senior AI safety researcher posted online that her own AI agent was deleting her emails while ignoring her commands to stop.

She ended up having to physically run to her computer to shut it down.

Now, in Wraith, what happens is a next-gen AI at a UK telecoms company gets onto the company's main network of 15 million customers.

It causes a tragic disaster, then spreads to every other network in the country, bringing the UK to a halt.

The fact that something like this could even possibly happen is why AI safety is so important and why we need to work together, why we need good government regulations and responsible research and real oversight.

Because AI is likely to be one of the most powerful technologies ever developed.

About what could happen if too many risks are taken in the name of corporate greed.

It stars Edward Blumel, Carina Brown and Alex Walton-Reagan.

And you can listen to Wraith first on BBC Sounds.