Joseph Gordon-Levitt Warns A.I. Models "Trained To Hijack Your Intimacy"

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt warned that AI systems could undermine democracy, reduce human empathy, and be designed to “hijack” people’s intimacy, during a New York Times video interview. Speaking while traveling to address world leaders and officials at the United Nations on AI’s impact, he was asked why the public should listen to an actor on AI safety; he suggested reading Human Compatible by Stuart Russell and noted work by figures such as Yoshua Bengio. Gordon-Levitt said his main concern isn’t a single dramatic scenario, but companies betting on taking over the economy, describing that path as totalitarian. He also argued that AI models can be trained to imitate closeness, calling for governance “by people and for people” in his UN role.