If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AI is the greatest threat to our existence that we have ever faced. 'The most important book of the decade' MAX TEGMARK, author of Life 3.0 'A loud trumpet call to humanity to awaken us as we sleepwalk into disaster - we must wake up' STEPHEN FRY ‘The best no-nonsense, simple explanation of the AI risk problem I've ever read’ YISHAN WONG, former Reddit CEO The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction – but it’s not too late to change course. Two pioneering researchers in the field, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, explain why artificial superintelligence would be a global suicide bomb and call for an immediate halt to its development. The technology may be complex, but the facts are simple: companies and countries are in a race to build machines that will be smarter than any person, and the world is devastatingly unprepared for what will come next. Could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares explore the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario and explain what it would take for humanity to survive. The world is racing to build something truly new – and if anyone builds it, everyone dies. *A GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR*

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AI is the greatest threat to our existence that we have ever faced. 'The most important book of the decade' MAX TEGMARK, author of Life 3.0 'A loud trumpet call to humanity to awaken us as we sleepwalk into disaster - we must wake up' STEPHEN FRY ‘The best no-nonsense, simple explanation of the AI risk problem I've ever read’ YISHAN WONG, former Reddit CEO The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction – but it’s not too late to change course. Two pioneering researchers in the field, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, explain why artificial superintelligence would be a global suicide bomb and call for an immediate halt to its development. The technology may be complex, but the facts are simple: companies and countries are in a race to build machines that will be smarter than any person, and the world is devastatingly unprepared for what will come next. Could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares explore the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario and explain what it would take for humanity to survive. The world is racing to build something truly new – and if anyone builds it, everyone dies. *A GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR*

The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction--but it's not too late to change course, as two of the field's earliest researchers explain in this clarion call for humanity. "May prove to be the most important book of our time."--Tim Urban, Wait But Why In 2023, hundreds of AI luminaries signed an open letter warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious risk of human extinction. Since then, the AI race has only intensified. Companies and countries are rushing to build machines that will be smarter than any person. And the world is devastatingly unprepared for what would come next. For decades, two signatories of that letter--Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares--have studied how smarter-than-human intelligences will think, behave, and pursue their objectives. Their research says that sufficiently smart AIs will develop goals of their own that put them in conflict with us--and that if it comes to conflict, an artificial superintelligence would crush us. The contest wouldn't even be close. How could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Why would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares walk through the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario, and explain what it would take for humanity to survive. The world is racing to build something truly new under the sun. And if anyone builds it, everyone dies. "The best no-nonsense, simple explanation of the AI risk problem I've ever read."--Yishan Wong, Former CEO of Reddit

The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction--but it's not too late to change course, as two of the field's earliest researchers explain in this clarion call for humanity. "May prove to be the most important book of our time."--Tim Urban, Wait But Why In 2023, hundreds of AI luminaries signed an open letter warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious risk of human extinction. Since then, the AI race has only intensified. Companies and countries are rushing to build machines that will be smarter than any person. And the world is devastatingly unprepared for what would come next. For decades, two signatories of that letter--Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares--have studied how smarter-than-human intelligences will think, behave, and pursue their objectives. Their research says that sufficiently smart AIs will develop goals of their own that put them in conflict with us--and that if it comes to conflict, an artificial superintelligence would crush us. The contest wouldn't even be close. How could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Why would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares walk through the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario, and explain what it would take for humanity to survive. The world is racing to build something truly new under the sun. And if anyone builds it, everyone dies. "The best no-nonsense, simple explanation of the AI risk problem I've ever read."--Yishan Wong, Former CEO of Reddit