The UK's prestigious University of Cambridge is to play host to a new center where experts will analyze the possible dangers of advanced artificial intelligence. Founded by philosophy professor Huw Price, cosmology professor Martin Rees, and Skype co-founder Jann Tallinn, the university says its Center for the Study of Existential Risk is set to open on campus next year. While acknowledging the far-fetched nature of a HAL 9000-style AI rebellion, Price told the AP that "it seems a reasonable prediction that some time in this or the next century intelligence will escape from the constraints of biology."

"It tends to be regarded as a flakey concern, but given that we don't know how serious the risks are, that we don't know the time scale, dismissing the concerns is dangerous. What we're trying to do is to push it forward in the respectable scientific community."