Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked growing concerns among experts, policymakers, and world leaders regarding the potential for increasingly advanced AI systems to pose catastrophic risks. Although numerous risks have been detailed separately, there is a pressing need for a systematic discussion and illustration of the potential dangers to better inform efforts to mitigate them. This paper provides an overview of the main sources of catastrophic AI risks, which we organize into four categories: malicious use, in which individuals or groups intentionally use AIs to cause harm; AI race, in which competitive environments compel actors to deploy unsafe AIs or cede control to AIs; organizational risks, highlighting how human factors and complex systems can increase the chances of catastrophic accidents; and rogue AIs, describing the inherent difficulty in controlling agents far more intelligent than humans. For each category of risk, we describe specific hazards, present illustrative stories, envision ideal scenarios, and propose practical suggestions for mitigating these dangers. Our goal is to foster a comprehensive understanding of these risks and inspire collective and proactive efforts to ensure that AIs are developed and deployed in a safe manner. Ultimately, we hope this will allow us to realize the benefits of this powerful technology while minimizing the potential for catastrophic outcomes.

翻译：人工智能（AI）的快速发展引发了专家、政策制定者和世界领导人对日益先进的AI系统可能带来灾难性风险的日益担忧。尽管诸多风险已被分别详细阐述，但当前迫切需要系统性地讨论和阐明这些潜在危险，以更好地推动风险缓释工作。本文综述了灾难性AI风险的主要来源，并将其归为四类：恶意使用，即个人或团体故意利用AI造成危害；AI竞赛，即竞争环境迫使行为体部署不安全的AI或将控制权让渡给AI；组织风险，强调人为因素与复杂系统如何增加灾难性事故的发生概率；反叛AI，描述控制远超人类智能的智能体本身存在的固有困难。针对每类风险，我们详细描述了具体危害，通过示例性场景进行说明，勾勒理想发展图景，并提出切实可行的风险缓释建议。本文旨在促进对这些风险的全面理解，激发集体与前瞻性行动，确保AI以安全方式开发与部署。最终，我们期望在降低灾难性后果可能性的同时，使这一强大技术的益处得以实现。