Position: Humanity Faces Existential Risk from Gradual Disempowerment

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11620%2F25%3A10514484" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11620/25:10514484 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://proceedings.mlr.press/v267/" target="_blank" >https://proceedings.mlr.press/v267/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Position: Humanity Faces Existential Risk from Gradual Disempowerment

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

This paper examines the systemic risks posed by incremental advancements in artificial intelligence, developing the concept of&apos;gradual disempowerment&apos;, in contrast to the abrupt takeover scenarios commonly discussed in AI safety. We analyze how even incremental improvements in AI capabilities can undermine human influence over large-scale systems that society depends on, including the economy, culture, and nation-states. As AI increasingly replaces human labor and cognition in these domains, it can weaken both explicit human control mechanisms (like voting and consumer choice) and the implicit alignments with human interests that often arise from societal systems&apos; reliance on human participation to function. Furthermore, to the extent that these systems incentivize outcomes that do not align with human preferences, AIs may optimize for those outcomes more aggressively. These effects may be mutually reinforcing across different domains: economic power shapes cultural narratives and political decisions, while cultural shifts alter economic and political behavior. This position paper argues that this dynamic could lead to an effectively irreversible loss of human influence over crucial societal systems, precipitating an existential catastrophe through the permanent disempowerment of humanity. This suggests the need for both technical research and governance approaches that specifically address the risk of incremental erosion of human influence across interconnected societal systems.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Position: Humanity Faces Existential Risk from Gradual Disempowerment

Popis výsledku anglicky

This paper examines the systemic risks posed by incremental advancements in artificial intelligence, developing the concept of&apos;gradual disempowerment&apos;, in contrast to the abrupt takeover scenarios commonly discussed in AI safety. We analyze how even incremental improvements in AI capabilities can undermine human influence over large-scale systems that society depends on, including the economy, culture, and nation-states. As AI increasingly replaces human labor and cognition in these domains, it can weaken both explicit human control mechanisms (like voting and consumer choice) and the implicit alignments with human interests that often arise from societal systems&apos; reliance on human participation to function. Furthermore, to the extent that these systems incentivize outcomes that do not align with human preferences, AIs may optimize for those outcomes more aggressively. These effects may be mutually reinforcing across different domains: economic power shapes cultural narratives and political decisions, while cultural shifts alter economic and political behavior. This position paper argues that this dynamic could lead to an effectively irreversible loss of human influence over crucial societal systems, precipitating an existential catastrophe through the permanent disempowerment of humanity. This suggests the need for both technical research and governance approaches that specifically address the risk of incremental erosion of human influence across interconnected societal systems.

Druh

D - Stať ve sborníku

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

10700 - Other natural sciences

Projekt

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Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název statě ve sborníku

Proceedings of Machine Learning Research

ISBN

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ISSN

2640-3498

e-ISSN

2640-3498

Počet stran výsledku

11

Strana od-do

81678-81688

Název nakladatele

JMLR

Místo vydání

Cambridge, MA

Místo konání akce

Vancouver

Datum konání akce

13. 7. 2025

Typ akce podle státní příslušnosti

WRD - Celosvětová akce

Kód UT WoS článku

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