Here’s How an AI Slowdown Could Actually Be Enforced
What’s less clear—even among AI’s technical elite—is precisely how to keep these mercurial algorithms in check.In recent years researchers have thrown around all sorts of ideas for preventing AI from turning nasty. “We don't really understand what our options even are or what they will do.”Talk of AI doom has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks after an Anthropic researcher left the company and warned that within a couple of years, AI might be on course to wipe out humanity. This has sparked fears of an accelerating recursive self-improvement (RSI) loop that would see AI outstrip humans’ ability to comprehend what it is up to within a few years.The AI labs are already touting new approaches of their own.
- ▪What’s less clear—even among AI’s technical elite—is precisely how to keep these mercurial algorithms in check.In recent years researchers have thrown around all sorts of ideas for preventing AI from turning nasty.
- ▪“We don't really understand what our options even are or what they will do.”Talk of AI doom has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks after an Anthropic researcher left the company and warned that within a couple of years, AI might be on co
- ▪This has sparked fears of an accelerating recursive self-improvement (RSI) loop that would see AI outstrip humans’ ability to comprehend what it is up to within a few years.The AI labs are already touting new approaches of their own.
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| Canonical URL | https://www.wired.com/story/heres-how-an-ai-slowdown-could-actually-work/ |
| Publication time | Fri, 18 Sep 2026 19:21:09 +0000 |
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Will KnightBusinessSep 18, 2026 3:21 PMHere’s How an AI Slowdown Could Actually Be EnforcedEven if big AI companies agree to a pause, ensuring that nobody tries to sneak ahead could prove tricky.Photograph: Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyMany AI researchers seem to firmly believe that the technology they are developing could someday prove very dangerous. What’s less clear—even among AI’s technical elite—is precisely how to keep these mercurial algorithms in check.In recent years researchers have thrown around all sorts of ideas for preventing AI from turning nasty.
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