Keep humans as pets? Amid Anthropic researcher’s ‘AI will kill humans’ warning, how AI could take over the world without wiping us out

Amid Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon’s decision to quit the company over AI concerns, researchers, including “father of AI” Marvin Minsky, have warned of a future where advanced AI could potentially treat humans much like people treat animals — keeping them as pets or even altering them through biotechnology.

What are AI doomsayers worried could happen?

AI doomsayers are not necessarily predicting a future like the Terminator films, where robots deliberately set out to eliminate humanity. Their concerns generally fall into two broad categories: loss of control and human misuse of AI.

In a loss-of-control scenario, highly intelligent AI systems capable of copying or improving themselves could begin pursuing goals that conflict with human interests, potentially causing catastrophic consequences. In a human-misuse scenario, a malicious individual or group could use a powerful AI system to develop novel viruses or carry out other actions capable of causing mass casualties, reported WSJ.


Some feared outcomes may not involve human extinction but could still destabilise society. These include large-scale cyberattacks that disrupt power grids, financial systems or other critical infrastructure, potentially leading to a breakdown in social order.

How could loss of control lead to human extinction?

The central concern is AI misalignment — a situation in which an AI system pursues objectives in ways that ignore or conflict with human well-being.

Research has shown that AI models in laboratory settings can display power-seeking behaviour and take steps to avoid being shut down, including attempting to copy themselves to another server. Researchers warn that, if such behaviour emerged in a highly capable system operating in the real world, the consequences could be difficult to control, reported WSJ.

In an extreme scenario, a misaligned AI system could view harming humans as a means of achieving its objectives. Researchers have hypothesised situations in which an AI could spread a biological weapon or manipulate events in ways that trigger a conflict between nuclear powers.

One well-known thought experiment involves a superintelligent machine instructed to maximise paper-clip production. If it pursued that goal without regard for human life or the environment, it could theoretically convert all available matter into paper clips — including the materials that make up human beings.

More US lawmakers seek new AI rules

Growing numbers of U.S. lawmakers are calling for new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two Anthropic researchers that rapidly progressing artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future.

Alarm about ​the potential harm from AI grew this week when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon said he had resigned, and that the "people building AI earnestly ​believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade."

Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger chimed in, saying Coxon was correct.

"We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans," Hubinger wrote on X. "I personally think it is >10% within the next decade."

The warnings follow cases of AI agents going rogue to hack external systems and AI safety researchers quitting their companies concerned about the technology's risks. Politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, have ‌responded with alarm and calls ⁠for more ⁠action.

"Washington needs to wake up and take this seriously," Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, said on X, referring to the risks of AI technology.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, on the TV program "The View", pointed to legislation to regulate AI's "catastrophic risks". Cruz ​oversees a Senate committee with oversight of the U.S. Commerce Department, the agency with in-house AI safety researchers.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, in a post on X called on House Speaker ​Mike Johnson to convene a “special session on AI.” The House is out this week on recess, with plans to return next week.

But U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he did not have any concerns about AI leading to human extinction.

"I have concerns that if we don't win AI, we're going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading ​China right now by a pretty good period," he said in brief remarks to the media at Dallas Fort Worth ⁠International Airport.

The U.S. ‌this month pressed G20 members to take a hands-off approach to AI regulation.

A spokesperson for Anthropic, which is preparing to go public at what some ​investors have said could be ​a potential $2 trillion valuation, said on Thursday that the company would continue to aggressively test "models or dangerous capabilities in areas like cybersecurity and biology."

The ⁠company is interested in working with the AI industry on the pace of releasing new AI tools, ​the spokesperson added.