A few days before “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies” came out I wrote a review of Scott's review of the book.

Now I’ve actually read the book and can review it for real. I won’t go into the authors’ stylistic choices like their decision to start every chapter with a parable or their specific choice of language. I am no prose stylist, and tastes vary. Instead I will focus on their actual claims.

The main flaw of the book is asserting that various things are possible in theory, and then implying that this means they will definitely happen. I share the authors’ general concern that building superintelligence carries a significant risk, but I don’t think we’re as close to such a superintelligence as they do or that it will emerge as suddenly as they do, and I am much less certain that the superintelligence will be misaligned in [...]

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Outline:

(01:06 ) Definitions

(02:37 ) The key claims

(05:16 ) 2. Is superintelligence coming soon and fast?

(07:32 ) On overconfidence

(08:26 ) Is superintelligence coming suddenly?

(09:05 ) 3. Will superintelligence relentlessly pursue its own goals?

(10:30 ) 4. Will superintelligence relentlessly pursue goals that result in our destruction?

(17:09 ) On the current state of AI understanding and safety research

(18:27 ) 5. Does this all mean we should stop AI development now?

(19:49 ) Still, the book addresses some common misunderstandings

The original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

September 19th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/N2Cs7vGbfevfFzmxE/book-review-if-anyone-builds-it-everyone-dies-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.