Is AI an existential threat to humanity?

 Yes, it is, the biggest threat in history of mankind.

In many ways.

The people who say it is just a propaganda to defame AI, or those who want to advocate it everywhere, actually can not see future in its whole true form.
It is very simple: When you have the raw material available, you know what is gong to be ultimate product over time.

The best thing about machine is that it would not show your grey part, criticize you or scold you on face, straight forward. Most people are afraid and run away of the situation where they are countered head to head or questioned, so they prefer machine over humans.
I will try to explain everything I know and understand about AI and how I see a future with AI, bit by bit.

Firstly, there are people who say if human has made AI, how can AI surpass humans. We made rockets, a rocket can go to space, can a human go to space directly without any mechanical support ?
Those who advocate that “computers were also made, people were against computers but now we have grown or developed with help of computers” , these people do not understand AI capabilities.

Computers are combination of hardware's and software that required input to process any info, and in computers software was something, “the path” of which was determined to get an information processed.
AI is software program that can be combined with a robot ( AI machine), a computer or anything with is mechanical. Scary thing is, it can write its software further ( create its own ways, the path) to the extent it thinks fit to get job done. It would also be the decision maker as per its perception.

Just like a person who can use a paper clip to harm another person, AI machine is capable of doing that ( directly or indirectly). Also, an AI can be used as a weapon of mass destruction by any person ( not a terrorist), even a small hacker frustrated with his personal life can do that.

Secondly, there are people who would say AI would generate jobs. Now, the answer I have is very practical why would big companies making profit fortunes think about society. They know what they want, even if they have to sell public data collected through products.
AI is useful for them to cut cost ( increase profitability), to do things a human can not think of, by analyzing millions of ways in few seconds.
Even I know, what is capability of a simple AI software and few chats samples of group of people, that the AI can read. The AI can create database of habits, like or dislikes.
Corporate giants can ruin our life’s beyond the thinking capabilities of people who are advocating AIs, combined with the data gathered from facebook, instagram, whats app etc.

Thirdly, the creative side of AI has started ruining lives.
On regular basis I can see news where some edited images of real life people are edited in such a way that can harm their finance or social image or can even lead to physical harm ( if the falsified image or text triggers someone who is extreme in action ).

Lastly, AI would take us far from human interaction, just like social media and makes human addicted.
Most of the people like to be liked even if they have to fake their personality traits or possessions.
Those who advocate AI, ask yourself:
Why do you stand in front of someone else car ? OR
Why you post photos on social media showing the things you do not possess ? OR
Why you have tattoos on your body, when that thing was not made by birth ? OR
Why do you have to use filters in your camera ? OR
Why you feel depressed when you do not get likes on social media ? OR
Why you want to be in fake world created on social media, lying to yourself ?

It is dark side of most of the human ( especially the social ones) to first lie to others and then assume the lie to be truth for themselves. AI is a tool to magnify the dark side to its darkest form.

I recently read about something all ‘Replika’ app, it is the disaster AI can do with proof.
There are people who lack wisdom or were just given birth by parents but then left for the directionless society on own, also not passed on with principles of humanity and wisdom ( parents may lack it themselves ) are getting attracted to this app. These users do not get attention or the solution to their phycological problems in the society, so they find support in AI assuming it their slave / partner / guardian. But ultimately they are addicted to the slave or partner, who is ‘atleast for now’ programmed to make them happy. But actually making them mentally and socially weak, collecting the psychological data. This is bizarre.

A gun will shoot and kill that is simple.
Same AI would think and decide itself, dark side of human would create dark future for humanity combined with AI. Nobody needs a case study when things are evident.

Most of the audience especially in west, probably get triggered only by research papers or the scientific evidences. But that is not how life works, if you think that something is good, it would continue to do bad because thats how it is made or suppose to work for most of human.
When something is evident, first action should be to save the society before any research or scientific evidence shows that damage has already been done.

Saving few thousands every year in name of medical advancement, to advocate other form of same tool or seed that is easily available to harm millions mentally or physically, is not human intelligence.