Researcher argues 'loss of humanity's long-term potential' is a flawed definition of existential risk
birchlse · x · 2026-10-03
The post challenges the popular definition of existential risk as "risks that threaten the destruction of humanity's long-term potential." The author argues that if humanity's potential is very great, then an irreversible future that is still much better than today could also qualify as an existential risk — alongside outright extinction. The thread feeds into an ongoing AI-safety debate about whether the x-risk concept should focus narrowly on extinction or broadly on foreclosed futures.
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