If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies

Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All

De: Eliezer Yudkowsky, Nate Soares

Narrado por: Rafe Beckley

"May prove to be the most important book of our time.”—Tim Urban, Wait But Why

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.

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The most important book of the decade. This captivating page-turner, from two of today’s clearest thinkers, reveals that the competition to build smarter-than-human machines isn’t an arms race but a suicide race, fueled by wishful thinking."—Max Tegmark, author of Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of AI

“If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies may prove to be the most important book of our time. Yudkowsky and Soares believe we are nowhere near ready to make the transition to superintelligence safely, leaving us on the fast track to extinction. Through the use of parables and crystal-clear explainers, they convey their reasoning, in an urgent plea for us to save ourselves while we still can.”—Tim Urban, cofounder, Wait But Why

“The most important book I’ve read for years: I want to bring it to every political and corporate leader in the world and stand over them until they’ve read it. Yudkowsky and Soares, who have studied AI and its possible trajectories for decades, sound a loud trumpet call to humanity to awaken us as we sleepwalk into disaster.”—Stephen Fry

“The best no-nonsense, simple explanation of the AI risk problem I've ever read.”—Yishan Wong, former CEO of Reddit

“Soares and Yudkowsky lay out, in plain and easy-to-follow terms, why our current path toward ever-more-powerful AIs is extremely dangerous.”—Emmett Shear, former interim CEO of OpenAI

“Everyone should read this book. There’s a 70% chance that you—yes, you reading this right now—will one day grudgingly admit that we all should have listened to Yudkowsky and Soares when we still had the chance."—Daniel Kokotajlo, AI Futures Project

"A compelling introduction to the world's most important topic. Artificial general intelligence could be just a few years away. This is one of the few books that takes the implications seriously, published right as the danger level begins to spike."—Scott Alexander, founder, Astral Codex Ten

“Claims about the risks of AI are often dismissed as advertising, but this book disproves it. Yudkowsky and Soares are not from the AI industry, and have been writing about these risks since before it existed in its present form. Read their disturbing book and tell us what they get wrong.”—Huw Price, Bertrand Russell Professor Emeritus, Trinity College, Cambridge

Excellent explainer for the most important problem

The title is not an exaggeration. This is a short and accessible explanation of the most important problem in the world: the threat of extinction from superintelligent AI.

This book came out today. I started reading this morning and finished this afternoon. I was excited to read it, to say the least, and Yudkowsky and Soares didn't disappoint.

If you don't think AI is the biggest threat facing humanity, read this book. If you do, buy copies for your friends and family. Let's hope the authors are wrong and fight as if they're right.

must read

Very in depth book about how AI works. Complications already encountered with AI. Explains why we should be concerned. Especially given how big of a footprint Zuckerberg and Palantir ( I named these people/company not the book. I am deeply concerned about where we are headed.

Everyone should listen to this

This audiobook gives a clear and concise outline of the most important issue facing our generation. An uncomfortable truth is no less true

Terrifying solid logic

I think this is the first book review I have ever written. This was the fourth book I’ve read about AI. As I read it, I was impressed by the simplicity of its prose and its sound logic. I was also, however, terrified by what I read and struggled to maintain my normally positive outlook during the few days I listened to it on my commute. Particularly troubling to me was the absence of, as far I can discern, any reputable refutation of the claims of the author. I still find it incredible that the founders of the top AI companies readily acknowledge that ASI presents a truly existential threat to humanity but pursue it nonetheless. Please read this book and gift it to others. If you have a credible response to the book’s claims, please tell me so I can sleep better at night.

Time is running out -- compelling prompt to act now

Excellent exposition of the most important topic of our time. It is chock full of metaphors that simply and accurately convey complex ideas. You'll enjoy the listen, but if you comprehend, leave terrified. We all need to act together now, before it is too late.