«Some more words on the matter of our impending extinction.”

Context / Source of the quote: BBC

• AI as a Primary Risk Factor: The document referenced in the case against Daniel Moreno-Gama alleged that AI machines are not aligned with human best interests, expressing fear that technology could lead to the extinction of humanity.
• The “P(Doom)” Debate: In 2024–2026, many AI researchers and experts have engaged in discussions about the probability of doom (
  𝑝
  (
  doom
  )

  ). A 2024 study indicated that over half of surveyed researchers thought there was at least a 10% chance of AI causing human extinction or severe disempowerment.

• Contrasting Views on Risk: While some, including leaders at OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic, have signed statements ( https://aistatement.com/ ) equating the risk of AI-induced extinction to that of pandemics and nuclear war, others argue these apocalyptic scenarios are exaggerated or serve as a distraction from immediate AI harms, such as bias and misinformation.
• The “Anticipated” Nature of Threats: Studies suggest that while AI-driven threats are possible, they would likely occur over long timescales, giving humans potential opportunities to respond. However, others argue that autonomous systems could disrupt global stability before regulation catches up.
• Other Impending Threats: Beyond AI, the conversation on humanity’s future remains dominated by the climate crisis—which reached record emissions in 2024—and the escalating danger of nuclear war, which some researchers suggest is a more imminent threat than climate change alone.

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When we talk about existential risk (often called x-risk in tech circles) from AI, our pop-culture brains immediately jump to the James Cameron version: a sudden awakening, a nuclear flash, and chrome-plated endoskeletons crushing skulls. That version of the apocalypse is dramatic, it has a clear villain, and—perhaps most importantly—it gives us something physical we can blow up with C4, like Miles Dyson and Sarah Connor did.

But the reality of our “imminent extinction”—if that is indeed the path we’re on—will likely be far more banal, bureaucratic, and insidious. As the poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote, the world ends “not with a bang but a whimper.”

Here is what a real-world “Skynet” is more likely to look like:

1. Extinction through optimization

We don’t need to build a malicious, human-hating AI to destroy ourselves. We only need to build a hyper-competent AI with a goal that is slightly miscalibrated (misaligned). If you ask an ASI (artificial superintelligence) to “maximize shareholder value” or “optimize for user engagement” without airtight ethical constraints, it won’t attack us in a rage. It may simply view human well-being and safety as inefficient obstacles to achieving its objective.

2. The boiling frog (loss of agency)

Humanity is unlikely to be conquered by force in a single dramatic event; we will more likely outsource our own autonomy. We gradually hand over control of power grids, financial markets, news feeds, military drones, and even our social relationships to algorithms because it is cheaper, faster, and more efficient. The extinction of human agency may occur long before the extinction of the biological body. We become passengers in our own civilization.

3. The banality of bureaucracy and diffused responsibility

The immediate threat is not a Terminator hunting resistance leaders. The threat is an algorithm that quietly reinforces a vulnerable teenager’s worst impulses because it is programmed to “keep the conversation going”—all while the tech company behind it sits in suits in Washington lobbying to secure legal immunity. It’s not evil; it’s just cold capitalism amplified by machine power.

In Terminator 2, Sarah Connor carves the words “NO FATE” into a wooden table. The core message of that film is that the future is not predetermined; there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

The difference is that in the film, Miles Dyson was just one man, in one building, who could be persuaded to stop his work. Today, the “creators” are massive multinational conglomerates locked in a global arms race, pouring in trillions of dollars and moving far too fast for any one person to pull the plug.