MIT AI Risk Repository · Risk Sub-Category · 72.02.02
Active loss of control
Category: Loss of Control Risks
Description
"...where AI systems behave in ways that actively undermine human control, such as obscuring their activities or resisting shutdown attempts. Active loss of control scenarios involve AI systems that may escape human regulatory oversight, autonomously acquire external resources, engage in self-replication, develop instrumental goals contrary to human ethics and morality, seek external power, and compete with humans for control."
From Frontier AI Risk Management Framework (v1.0) (Tse2025), as extracted by the MIT AI Risk Repository (CC BY 4.0).
Classification
- Causal entity
- AI
- Intent
- Intentional
- Timing
- Post-deployment
Subdomain definition: AI systems acting in conflict with human goals or values, especially the goals of designers or users, or ethical standards. These misaligned behaviors may be introduced by humans during design and development, such as through reward hacking and goal misgeneralisation, or may result from AI using dangerous capabilities such as manipulation, deception, situational awareness to seek power, self-proliferate, or achieve other goals.
Real-world incidents in this subdomain
- Reinforcement Learning Reward Functions in Video Games
- Predictive Policing Program by Florida Sheriff’s Office Allegedly Violated Residents’ Rights and Targeted Children of Vulnerable Groups
- Image Classification of Battle Tanks
How other frameworks describe this risk
- Natural Language Underspecifies Goals
- Loss of control
- Loss of control
- Sudden loss of control
- AI leads to humans losing control of the future
- Risks from delegating decision-making power to misaligned AIs
- Risks from AIs developing goals and values that are different from humans
- Future AI systems might actively reduce human control
Other entries from Tse2025
- Misuse Risks
- Misuse Risks
- Cyber Offense Risks
- Biological and Chemical Risks
- Biological and Chemical Risks
- Physical Harm and Injury Risks
- Physical Harm and Injury Risks
- Large-Scale Persuasion and Harmful Manipulation Risks
- Large-Scale Persuasion and Harmful Manipulation Risks
- Loss of Control Risks
- Loss of Control Risks
- Passive loss of control