Unaligned AI

Rapid AI progress, with experts forecasting AGI by 2032 amid geopolitical races, creates the highest existential risk. Surveys of AI researchers and national security officials assign 5-20% probability of catastrophe or extinction this century from misaligned superintelligence, exceeding nuclear war or climate estimates. Uncontrolled systems could pursue incompatible goals, causing irreversible human disempowerment. Current environmental strains and societal divisions hinder coordinated safety efforts.