AI Expert’s Chilling Warning About Super-intelligence - 99.9999% Chance Human Extinction

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:00)
We're creating new worlds, we're creating new agents, new civilizations. We're playing God.

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:06)
You've said there's a 99% chance that humanity will be destroyed by AI. First group of people that would come after is people like you.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:15)
Me and a colleague of mine put- I'm hoping it's efficient enough to kill everyone equally. Doesn't care about borders or Chinese economy versus US, it's humans versus superintelligence.

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:27)
Try to convince nearly 200 countries to all agree that we're not gonna do it.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:32)
Luckily, most of them don't have capacity to do that.

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:34)
How many of them actually have the capacity?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:36)
Right now, it's in US and China's hands.

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:38)
Are you certain about that or is that the speculation?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:41)
We are not solving the problem with regulation. We're slowing it down so we have more time. Concentration of power-

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:47)
You really think Sam Altman's gonna stop with this? As long as the other guy continues, he's gonna continue.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (0:52)
That's exactly what it is. It's like a prisoner dilemma. This dude is gambling with 8 billion lives.

**Patrick Bet-David** (0:58)
In what area do you think they're on the same page? Because they're enemies.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:01)
Elon is always right. He's just off on timing. He was the biggest opponent of building super intelligence. Once he realized that they're doing it anyways without him, he said, the only way I can have a say at this table is to be one of the top players.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:18)
Maybe you're just pessimistic woman. Maybe you're just negative.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:21)
There is no reason to be so optimistic if data is bad.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:23)
So Soviet Union really got ahold of you. They really conditioned your mind to think that way.
What do you think about communism?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:30)
It's the dumbest idea until you have free labor, which we're about to create. All of a sudden, it makes a little more sense.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:37)
This utopian thing you're selling is not possible.

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:42)
Even God couldn't control his biological robots. No.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:46)
You believe in God?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:47)
It depends on how you define it.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:48)
How do you define it?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (1:49)
This is a virtual world.

**Patrick Bet-David** (1:52)
Do you think it's going to get to a point of having ambition and seeking vengeance and emotion and being offended? Why would it want to destroy humanity?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (2:01)
I never once mentioned those things because they are not relevant. And what I did say is that it doesn't care about us.

**Patrick Bet-David** (2:08)
Are you surprised that this message is getting this viral and this much attention?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (2:11)
I'm surprised that that's not the only conversation we're having.

**Patrick Bet-David** (2:21)
Roman Yampolskiy, great to have you on the podcast.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:23)
Thank you for having me.

**Patrick Bet-David** (2:24)
So you are the AI safety guy. You are the one that in 2011, 2012, you coined the phrase, hey, we have to be careful with what's coming.
And you're not part of the camp of people that are very optimistic about the future with AI. That's your position. You've said this many times. So before we get into the audience, learning a little bit more about you, you've gotten hundreds of millions of views. You've done Diary of a CEO. I've seen you all over the place, okay?
You've said there's a 99.999% chance that humanity will be destroyed by AI, possibly in the next 10 years. Not for certain, but possibly in the next 10 years. Well, you have three kids. So when you sit down with them and you're talking to them about their dreams, the future, what do you tell them?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (3:08)
They know what's happening. They're questioning why adults are doing it to them. Why are we building general superintelligence, which will jeopardize their future?

**Patrick Bet-David** (3:17)
Are they optimistic about the future?

**Roman Yampolskiy** (3:21)
I think they're still young enough to have respect for adults and assuming that we know what we are doing. But we don't. People building those systems don't understand how they work.

**Patrick Bet-David** (3:32)
So if I'm your son or if I'm your daughter and I'm having a conversation with you, I say, Dad, you're my hero. You're the male alpha in my life. I look up to you. You are super educated. People admire you. You get hundreds of millions of views.
Why should I be excited about the future? Why should I be excited about my career? What kind of an impact that can make? It's not like if you really believe in what you believe in, the guys that are making hundreds of billions of dollars, some of them trillions of dollars over the next 10 years, the incentive is so big for them that it's hard to slow them down. Why should I be excited about the future? What do you tell them?