About the Book

By William Leiss and Richard Smith

This forthcoming book presents a comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the context of the impending transition of artificial intelligence from a passive tool to an autonomous actor.

The authors argue that while current AI provides significant benefits in medicine and science, there is an underlying risk that humans could lose control over the advanced AI systems (also known as frontier AI) which are now being created, leading to potentially catastrophic outcomes for humanity. The book’s chapter 9, which presents an original probabilistic safety assessment of loss of control, estimates a 1 in 8 chance of this eventuality occurring by the mid-21st century.

The second important underlying risk is the ongoing effort to create superintelligence, defined as a machine whose cognitive and operational capacities exceed that of humans by a wide margin. The authors argue that this development represents a credible risk of human extinction and call for an immediate global prohibition on developing superintelligent systems*.*

Finally, they contend that existing and proposed government regulations of AI are structurally inadequate because they treat AI as a controllable product rather than an adaptive, and sometimes deceptive, entity. The work emphasizes that internal self-control must be architecturally guaranteed before such powerful technologies are integrated into society.

The companion website will launch fully at publication, with ongoing commentary, an annotated bibliography, interactive tools, and resources for readers.

Publication details forthcoming. Expected publication date Fall 2026

Preface

Part One: Artificial Intelligence

Part 2: Risk Policy and Analysis

Part Three: Governance and Risk Management

References

Acknowledgements