How could a superintelligence take over the world? Let me count the ways
AI is racking up bigger advantages as people become more dependent on it, raising the risk of a superintelligent model overpowering humanity
Quick Look
Physicist Otto Barten discusses the existential risks posed by AI, citing OpenAI's recent mathematical breakthroughs and researcher warnings that superintelligent models could potentially threaten human existence.
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Why It Matters
OpenAI recently solved 377 high-profile open mathematical problems as a by-product of training. Researchers have expressed concerns regarding the rapid advancement and potential existential risks of AI.
How could a superintelligence take over the world? Let me count the ways
AI is racking up bigger advantages as people become more dependent on it, raising the risk of a superintelligent model overpowering humanity
Otto Barten is a physicist, engineer and director of the Existential Risk Observatory, a nonprofit aimed at reducing existential risks from AI.
Published: 8:30pm, 15 Oct 2026
OpenAI recently announced perhaps its biggest mathematics breakthrough yet: it released novel results on 377 high-profile open problems. Artificial intelligence (AI) casually solved these decades-old problems as a mere by-product of training.
The community of mathematicians did not universally welcome this development, with University of Connecticut professor Alvaro Lozano-Robledo commenting: “I am not sure at this point what this (hostile?) takeover of the mathematical landscape is trying to achieve”.
Where is the global development of AI headed? According to Jacob Coxon – the researcher who recently resigned from AI research firm Anthropic – and other leading voices in AI, there might be an up to 50 per cent chance of humanity being ended by superintelligent AI. How would that happen?
Open Questions
- What specific mechanisms could lead to AI-driven existential risk?
- How will the mathematical community adapt to AI-driven research?
