How AI Could Help Overthrow Governments (with Tom Davidson)

Show Notes

On this episode, Tom Davidson joins me to discuss the emerging threat of AI-enabled coups, where advanced artificial intelligence could empower covert actors to seize power. We explore scenarios including secret loyalties within companies, rapid military automation, and how AI-driven democratic backsliding could differ significantly from historical precedents. Tom also outlines key mitigation strategies, risk indicators, and opportunities for individuals to help prevent these threats.  

Learn more about Tom's work here: https://www.forethought.org  

Timestamps:  

00:00:00  Preview: why preventing AI-enabled coups matters 

00:01:24  What do we mean by an “AI-enabled coup”? 

00:01:59  Capabilities AIs would need (persuasion, strategy, productivity) 

00:02:36  Cyber-offense and the road to robotized militaries 

00:05:32  Step-by-step example of an AI-enabled military coup 

00:08:35  How AI-enabled coups would differ from historical coups 

00:09:24  Democratic backsliding (Venezuela, Hungary, U.S. parallels) 

00:12:38  Singular loyalties, secret loyalties, exclusive access 

00:14:01  Secret-loyalty scenario: CEO with hidden control 

00:18:10  From sleeper agents to sophisticated covert AIs 

00:22:22  Exclusive-access threat: one project races ahead 

00:29:03  Could one country outgrow the rest of the world? 

00:40:00  Could a single company dominate global GDP? 

00:47:01  Autocracies vs democracies 

00:54:43  Mitigations for singular and secret loyalties 

01:06:25  Guardrails, monitoring, and controlled-use APIs 

01:12:38  Using AI itself to preserve checks-and-balances 

01:24:53  Risk indicators to watch for AI-enabled coups 

01:33:05  Tom’s risk estimates for the next 5 and 30 years 

01:46:50  How you can help – research, policy, and careers

What is Future of Life Institute Podcast?

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.