Existential risk from artificial intelligence

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It has been hypothesized that substantial progress toward artificial superintelligence (ASI) will lead to human extinction or another irreversible global catastrophe. Debates center on whether AI can achieve the capabilities needed for human extinction, the speed of self-improvement, and the effectiveness of strategies to keep it aligned with human values. Controlling a superintelligent machine or instilling human-compatible values in it may be difficult. Many researchers believe a superintelligent machine would likely resist attempts to disable it or change its goals, as that would prevent it from accomplishing its present goals. It would be extremely challenging to align a superintelligence with the full breadth of significant human values and constraints. In contrast, skeptics such as computer scientist Yann LeCun argue that superintelligent machines will have no intrinsic desire for self-preservation unless programmed to. A June 2025 Anthropic study showed that in some circumstances...

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