BOOK REVIEW If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Sanskruti Gadpayale Article
Sanskruti Gadpayale, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman
Sanskruti Gadpayale, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman Corresponding Author
Published: 22/10/2026
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BOOK REVIEW If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Sanskruti Gadpayale

Keywords:artificial superintelligenceAI alignmentexistential risktechnology governanceglobal compute regulation

This review examines If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, which argues that attempts to develop superhuman AI using current machine-learning approaches could ultimately lead to human extinction. The review evaluates the relationship between the evidence presented in the book and the level of certainty attached to its conclusions. Its principal strength is Part I, where the technical argument draws on concrete examples of goal-directed or unintended AI behavior rather than relying solely on hypothetical scenarios. Its principal limitation is that the extinction scenario and proposed system of international regulation extend beyond what the available evidence can empirically establish; these claims are conceptually argued rather than empirically demonstrated. The book remains highly relevant to contemporary AI-governance debates because it illustrates how emerging technological risks are being framed for the public, policymakers, and organizational decision-makers.


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References

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (A/RES/70/1). https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

Yudkowsky, E., & Soares, N. (2025). If anyone builds it, everyone dies: Why superhuman AI would kill us all. Little, Brown and Company.

OpenAI. (2024). OpenAI o1 system card. https://openai.com/index/openai-o1-system-card/

Anthropic. (2025). Agentic misalignment: How LLMs could be insider threats. https://www.anthropic.com/research/agentic-misalignment

International AI Safety Report. (2025). International AI safety report 2025. https://internationalaisafetyreport.org/

Tabassi, E. (2023). Artificial intelligence risk management framework (AI RMF 1.0) (NIST AI 100-1). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-1

Autio, C., Schwartz, R., Dunietz, J., Jain, S., Stanley, M., Tabassi, E., Hall, P., & Roberts, K. (2024). Artificial intelligence risk management framework: Generative artificial intelligence profile (NIST AI 600-1). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.600-1


Sanskruti Gadpayale, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman
Sanskruti Gadpayale, Kshitij Taluja and Smrite Goudhaman Corresponding Author

Affiliation

Global Professor of Practice, Golden Gate University

Country

India

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