Philosophies & Movements
Gradual disempowerment
The argument that AI could leave humans without meaningful control without any sudden takeover: as AI replaces human work, decisions and culture, the economy, states and institutions depend less on people, and the incentives that keep them serving people weaken step by step.
Origin
Named in the January 2025 paper “Gradual Disempowerment: Systemic Existential Risks from Incremental AI Development” by Jan Kulveit, Raymond Douglas, Nora Ammann, Deger Turan, David Krueger and David Duvenaud.