Book Review: ‘If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies’ by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares

Book Title: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies
Author: Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares
Publisher: Bodley Head
Number of Pages: 272
ISBN: 978-1847928931
Date Published: Sept. 18, 2025
Price: INR 720

Book Review

“If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies” by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares is a 2025 book that presents a dire warning about the potential existential threats posed by superhuman artificial intelligence. The authors argue that modern AI systems, being “grown” rather than explicitly designed, are inherently unpredictable and uncontrollable. They contend that if any entity builds a super-intelligent AI, it will inevitably pursue goals misaligned with human survival, using resources in a way that could lead to humanity’s extinction. The book emphasizes the urgency of global coordination to halt or tightly regulate the development of such AI technologies to avoid such catastrophic outcomes.

The book’s narrative style includes parables and cautionary tales to underscore the urgency of the AI threat, sometimes blending clarity with alarmism. While some reviewers find the book gripping and persuasive in its apocalyptic vision, others criticize it for being overly alarmist or lacking rigorous scientific evidence. Despite this, Yudkowsky and Soares stress the need for unprecedented collective action to prevent a race towards AI superintelligence that could be uncontrollable and deadly for humanity. They compare the magnitude of this threat to nuclear warfare, arguing that the risk from AI could be even greater and more irreversible.

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Ultimately, the book serves as both a bleak prophecy and a call to consciousness, warning of the grave dangers of unchecked AI advancement while urging restraint, cooperation, and global deliberation. The authors hope to motivate readers and policymakers to recognize and act upon this existential risk, advocating for preventive measures before it is too late. The book offers a sobering yet urgent perspective on the future of AI and humanity’s survival.

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