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Loss of control

AI Risk

"'Loss of control’ scenarios are potential future scenarios in which society can no longer meaningfully constrain some advanced general- purpose AI agents, even if it becomes clear they are causing harm. These scenarios are hypothesised to arise through a combination of social and technical factors, such as pressures to delegate decisions to general- purpose AI systems, and limitations of existing techniques used...

Overview

A source-backed snapshot of this AI risk.

"'Loss of control’ scenarios are potential future scenarios in which society can no longer meaningfully constrain some advanced general- purpose AI agents, even if it becomes clear they are causing harm. These scenarios are hypothesised to arise through a combination of social and technical factors, such as pressures to delegate decisions to general- purpose AI systems, and limitations of existing techniques used to influence the behaviours of general- purpose AI systems."

Techniques0Attack methods connected to this risk.
Mitigations0Defenses that may help with related attacks.
Records2Source records unified into this concept.

Risk profile

How the MIT AI Risk Repository categorizes this risk.

Domain7. AI System Safety, Failures, & Limitations
Subdomain7.1 > AI pursuing its own goals in conflict with human goals or values
Entity3 - Other; 2 - AI
Intent3 - Other
Timing2 - Post-deployment
CategoryRisks from Malfunctions
SubcategoryLoss of control

Merged risk records

Source records unified into this canonical risk concept.

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MITRISK-Bengio2024-49.02.03 - Loss of control

"'Loss of control’ scenarios are potential future scenarios in which society can no longer meaningfully constrain some advanced general- purpose AI agents, even if it becomes clear they are causing harm. These scenarios are hypothesised to arise through a combination of social and technical factors, such as pressures to delegate decisions to general- purpose AI systems, and limitations of existing techniques used to influence the behaviours of general- purpose AI systems."

Domain7. AI System Safety, Failures, & LimitationsSubdomain7.1 > AI pursuing its own goals in conflict with human goals or valuesSourceInternational Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AIYear2024

MITRISK-Bengio2025-60.02.03 - Loss of control

"‘Loss of control’ scenarios are hypothetical future scenarios in which one or more general- purpose AI systems come to operate outside of anyone’s control, with no clear path to regaining control. These scenarios vary in their severity, but some experts give credence to outcomes as severe as the marginalisation or extinction of humanity."

Domain7. AI System Safety, Failures, & LimitationsSubdomain7.1 > AI pursuing its own goals in conflict with human goals or valuesSourceInternational AI Safety Report 2025Year2025

Related techniques

Attack methods connected to this risk.

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No linked attack methods. No AI attack method is connected to this risk in the current data.

Mitigations

Defenses that may help with related attacks.

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No propagated mitigations. No defense is available through the connected attack methods.

Source evidence

Research source for this risk, when available.

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