Will AI Kill Us All? Nate Soares on His Controversial Bestseller

Video Description

Nate Soares is one of the world’s leading AI “doomers” and co-author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All—the New York Times Bestseller that everyone in tech is debating. In this debut episode of a revamped The World Unpacked, new host Jon Bateman talks to Nate about his provocative argument that superintelligent AI could destroy all humans in our lifetimes—and how the U.S., China, and other countries should band together to stop it. What is superintelligent AI and how soon will it emerge? Why are tech companies explicitly aiming to create something that the CEOs themselves—and respected independent experts—acknowledge is an existential threat? Is it feasible for the U.S., China, and other major players in the global AI race to agree to a worldwide freeze on the technology? And how did Nate come to these realizations—and mourn for what he sees as humanity’s possible lost future? CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro 01:16 – What is Superintelligent AI? 4:02 – How Close Are we to Superhuman AI? 6:34 – AI Malice vs. Indifference 11:37 – Humanity's Defenses Against AI 18:19 – What Happens if we Lose Control 23:39 – Alignment and AI Safety 25:31 – Risks vs. Benefits of AI 28:53 – Potential International Alignment on AI Research 31:52 – China’s AI Policy and National Security 35:45 – Freezing Advanced AI Research 37:47 – Diplomacy, De-escalation & Risk of War 41:44 – The Weight of Humanity’s Possible Lost Future 44:18 – Is This an Era of Doom? 48:56 – Why Superintelligent AI Matters Find the episode transcript and streaming audio, and get the show direct to your inbox, here: https://carnegieendowment.org/podcasts/the-world-unpacked/will-ai-kill-us-all-nate-soares-on-his-controversial-bestseller? Follow Jon on X: https://x.com/JonKBateman Like and subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/38sljlH The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace. Visit our website: https://carnegieendowment.org/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/CarnegieEndow Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carnegieendow/