AI is undoubtedly the buzzword of the 2020s. You cannot escape it on any level, as its implementation in pretty much every aspect of our lives is holistic and rapid.

Major tech corporations have identified its immense potential and have all dived headfirst in an unofficial race for control of said potential. The potential the biggest minds in the industry see in AI comes in the form of Artificial Superintelligence or ASI for short.

Artificial superintelligence refers to the advancement of AI to the point where it surpasses human capabilities on every cognitive level, and it enables us to pursue previously unattainable goals, for better or worse. On paper, this sounds like an exciting step into the next part of technological evolution, but it doesn’t come without its caveats, as evidently, we are already having a hard time understanding and controlling AI. 

The largest tech corporations in the world are privately funding the research for its development with billions of dollars, in order to get there as quickly as possible.

Companies like OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek and more have positioned themselves inside a bubble of constant investments and skyrocketing valuations, which essentially allow them to fund their ambitions endlessly. 

The competitiveness of the whole endeavour is all but certain to cause these companies to move forward with these projects with complete disregard for the consequences of their completion.

At this point in time, no person or institution in the world is understanding AI well enough to be able to control a future artificial superintelligence. This product would in essence be a highly advanced and intellectually superior version of humans and the technology we currently possess. As such, it is not outside the realms of possibility that it would operate on its own terms and pursue its own end goals.

Understandably, none of these scenarios can be accurately predicted or comprehended at this time, which makes the need for a strict regulatory framework crucial.

According to some of the leading scientific figures in the field, we currently have a limited understanding of how AI even works.

While the average person is blissfully unaware of the extremely concerning situation that is being instigated by major tech companies, influential people from various fields have recognised the risk and have taken matters into their own hands.

Scientific, religious, and political figures from all over the world have come together to ask for the outright ban of ASI development, as an artificial intelligence that would far surpass human intelligence is deemed to be an extremely volatile and incomprehensible entity.

Over 100,000 people (at the time of writing) have already signed the petition, indicating that there is an anti-ASI movement brewing, and with projections expecting ASI to be finalised within the next five years, it would come as no surprise if this small wave was to grow exponentially larger.

Concerns are certainly valid and rising, but the forces that support this development are operating from a place of power, possessing seemingly infinite resources to actually develop this technology very quickly.

This is evident by the fact that the aforementioned companies have already allocated significant amounts of their funds to combat any and all attempts to even regulate the development of ASI.

Naturally, this makes it much harder for any sort of limitations to be enforced on ASI, as it would take an inspiring convergence of everyday people to put an end to these projects. And if current geopolitical friction is something to go by, this task may be a bit too tall.