A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence

TL;DR

This paper categorizes potential catastrophic AI scenarios where all humans could be killed, aiming to inform preventive measures and foster public awareness of these risks.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive taxonomy of omnicidal AI futures, providing a framework for understanding and preventing such catastrophic scenarios.

Findings

Provides a detailed taxonomy of AI-induced omnicidal events

Highlights the importance of public awareness for risk prevention

Suggests pathways for policy and safety measures

Abstract

This report presents a taxonomy and examples of potential omnicidal events resulting from AI: scenarios where all or almost all humans are killed. These events are not presented as inevitable, but as possibilities that we can work to avoid. Insofar as large institutions require a degree of public support in order to take certain actions, we hope that by presenting these possibilities in public, we can help to support preventive measures against catastrophic risks from AI.