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）的快速发展已引发专家、政策制定者及全球领导人对于日益先进的AI系统可能带来灾难性风险的日益担忧。尽管众多风险已分别加以详细阐述，但目前亟需对潜在危险进行系统性讨论和说明，以更好地指导缓解措施。本文概述了灾难性AI风险的主要来源，并将其分为四类：恶意使用——个人或团体故意利用AI造成危害；AI竞赛——竞争环境迫使行为者部署不安全的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概率；以及失控AI——描述控制远超人类智能的智能体所固有的困难。针对每类风险，我们描述了具体危害、讲述了典型案例、设想了理想情景，并提出了减轻这些危险的实用建议。我们的目标在于促进对这些风险的全面理解，并激发集体与主动的行动，以确保AI以安全的方式被开发与部署。最终，我们期望能够在实现这一强大技术效益的同时，将灾难性后果的可能性降至最低。