AI successionism

AI successionism is a view that humanity should hand the world over to AI even if this results in human extinction.[1]

A seminar abstract characterized advocates of “AI successionism” as holding that the replacement of the human species by AI would be good.[2]

Wired reported an idea that the “moral aim” of AI should be that one would prefer it, rather than humanity, to determine the future of life.[3]

According to The Wall Street Journal, for the Cheerful Apocalyptics, that AI could destroy humanity wouldn’t be bad.[4]

In an article for Vox, Sigal Samuel described computer scientist Richard Sutton as an "AI successionist".[5] Daniel Faggella used a “flame” metaphor, hypothesizing that the flame represents consciousness and autopoiesis, and AGI would carry the flame.[6]

Émile P. Torres argued that many Silicon Valley leaders embrace a future in which humans will be replaced by digital beings.[7]

History

In 2026, Samuel reported that AI successionism had been gaining ground for a decade.[8]

Criticism

Tyler Austin Harper argues that defending humanity against its "digital doppelgänger" requires a conception of humanity.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Samuel, Sigal (28 May 2026). "The people who actually want AI to replace humanity". Vox. Archived from the original on 26 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026. Instead, we should usher in artificial intelligence as a successor to humanity and hand over the world to it. Even if that means we go extinct.
  2. ↑ "Olle Häggström, Chalmers, Göteborg". Stockholm University. Archived from the original on 2026-07-25. Retrieved 29 July 2026. advocates of so-called AI successionism, holding that the human species being replaced by advanced AI would actually be a good thing.
  3. ↑ Robison, Kylie (2025-06-11). "Inside the AI Party at the End of the World". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2026-07-25. Retrieved 2026-07-25. The "moral aim" of advanced AI should be to create a form of intelligence so powerful and wise that "you would gladly prefer that it (not humanity) determine the future path of life itself."
  4. ↑ Price, David A. (2025-10-03). "AI Doom? No Problem". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2026-07-25. Retrieved 2026-07-26. Governments and experts are worried that a superintelligent AI could destroy humanity. For the 'Cheerful Apocalyptics' in Silicon Valley, that wouldn't be a bad thing.
  5. ↑ Samuel, Sigal (28 May 2026). "The people who actually want AI to replace humanity". Vox. Archived from the original on 26 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026. Likewise, the computer scientist and AI successionist Richard Sutton argues that if you look at things from the "point of view of the universe" — a classic utilitarian slogan — there's a clear upward trajectory.
  6. ↑ Strickland, Eliza (2025-06-24). "Can AI Be a "Worthy Successor" to Humanity?". IEEE Spectrum. Archived from the original on 2026-07-25. Retrieved 2026-07-25. My hypothesis is that the flame is consciousness and autopoiesis, or self-creation. If AGI [artificial general intelligence] has those two things, it would carry the flame into the future.
  7. ↑ Torres, Émile P. (2025-11-15). "Tech Capitalists Don't Care About Humans. Literally". Jacobin (Interview). Interviewed by Doug Henwood. Archived from the original on 2026-05-22. Retrieved 2026-06-05. As moral philosopher Émile Torres argues, many Silicon Valley leaders embrace a vision of a transhumanist future in which biological humans will be replaced by digital beings endowed with superintelligence.
  8. ↑ Samuel, Sigal (28 May 2026). "The people who actually want AI to replace humanity". Vox. Archived from the original on 25 July 2026. Retrieved 25 July 2026. AI successionism has been gaining ground among technologists over the past decade.
  9. ↑ Harper, Tyler Austin (2026-06-02). "There Is Already a Word for the Deep Moral Failures of AI". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2026-06-02. Retrieved 2026-06-05. Defending humanity against its digital doppelgänger requires having a positive conception of what humanity is in the first place.
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