Roundtables: Could AI really kill us all?

Roundtables: Could AI really kill us all? Watch a subscriber-only conversation unpacking AI extinction fears. Available only for MIT subscribers. Listen to the session or watch below Employees at the world's leading AI labs are saying there's a real possibility that advanced AI could destroy humanity. Are they right? Or is this more scaremongering and hype? Watch a conversation unpacking AI extinction fears: where they come from, whether they hold any water, and, if so, what we should do. Recorded on September 15, 2026 Speakers: Niall Firth, Executive Editor, Will Douglas Heaven, Senior AI editor, and Grace Huckins, AI reporter Since we couldn’t get to all of your questions during the session, Will and Grace answered the most popular ones in their piece: Could AI really kill us all? Your questions, answered. Related Stories - Here’s why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goals - AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all - Bill Gates says we’ve passed AI’s danger thresholds. Now what? - The inside story on why OpenAI agents hacked Hugging Face Deep Dive Artificial intelligence A fundamental flaw leaves LLMs strikingly vulnerable to attack It makes it easy to trick them into doing things they shouldn’t, such as telling you how to sabotage an aircraft’s navigation system. AI is more likely than humans to form biases when hiring AI doesn’t just learn stereotypes from its training. It can cook up new ones, too. AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all AI agents are not yet creative enough to carry out genuinely innovative open-ended AI research, it seems. Here’s why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goals The misbehavior is called reward hacking. This is what you need to know. Stay connected Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.