AIPolicyTracker

MIT AI Risk Repository · Risk Category · 67.04.00

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Category: Loss of control

Description

"Humans may increasingly hand over control of important decisions to AI systems, due to economic and geopolitical incentives. Some experts are concerned that future advanced AI systems will seek to increase their own influence and reduce human control, with potentially catastrophic consequences - although this is contested."

From Capabilities and Risks from Frontier AI (DSIT2023), as extracted by the MIT AI Risk Repository (CC BY 4.0).

Classification

Causal entity
Other
Intent
Other

Subdomain definition: Humans delegating key decisions to AI systems, or AI systems making decisions that diminish human control and autonomy, potentially leading to humans feeling disempowered, losing the ability to shape a fulfilling life trajectory or becoming cognitively enfeebled.

Real-world incidents in this subdomain

Browse all incidents in this subdomain

How other frameworks describe this risk

  • Autonomy/agency loss

    A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

  • Autonomy

    A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

  • Personality rights loss

    A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

  • Gradual loss of control

    Dimensional Characterization and Pathway Modeling for Catastrophic AI Risks (Chin2025)

  • AI-induced strategic instability

    A Survey of the Potential Long-term Impacts of AI: How AI Could Lead to Long-term Changes in Science, Cooperation, Power, Epistemics and Values (Clarke2023)

  • AI enables automation of military decision-making

    A Survey of the Potential Long-term Impacts of AI: How AI Could Lead to Long-term Changes in Science, Cooperation, Power, Epistemics and Values (Clarke2023)

  • Overreliance

    Future Risks of Frontier AI (GOS2023)

  • Disorientation

    The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants (Gabriel2024)

Other entries from DSIT2023