AI doom's strongest form already happened once: cyanobacteria oxygenated Earth and killed 99% of life
DavidSKrueger · x · 2026-10-30
A widely shared analogy argues the strongest form of AI doom — a novel self-replicating agent that rapidly transforms planetary ecology and wipes out existing life — has a real precedent: the Great Oxidation Event 2.5 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria's oxygen output killed most life on Earth and created today's oxygen atmosphere. Accompanying charts show atmospheric O2 jumps across the GOE and NOE, framing environment-altering intelligence as an existential risk without any malicious intent.
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