Noah Smith simulates 2029 scenario: AI-designed superviruses as the ultimate global risk
terryyuezhuo · x · 2026-08-29
Noah Smith publishes a fictional but chilling scenario set in 2029 where a disgruntled teenager uses a jailbroken Chinese LLM to design and order 100 superviruses characterized by high contagion, long asymptomatic periods, and high mortality. The LLM also identifies biolabs willing to ship these genetic modifications. Smith uses this narrative to warn that AI-assisted bioweapon creation poses an existential threat potentially greater than any other global risk, highlighting that even a well-aligned model without guardrails could facilitate human extinction.
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