Roman V. Yampolskiy · ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository (University of Louisville) 2016 · conceptual taxonomy · n=?

Taxonomy of Pathways to Dangerous Artificial Intelligence

Cited 41 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Level 5 by design analogy (theoretical framework and narrative classification without empirical data).

OpenAlex W2565259334 · record verified 2026-08-31

What was done

The author surveyed, classified, and analyzed potential circumstances and pathways that could lead to the emergence of dangerous or malicious artificial intelligence (AI), proposing a systematic conceptual taxonomy rather than relying on science fiction tropes of spontaneous self-awareness and rebellion.

What was found

The abstract reports no empirical measurements or quantitative data. It presents a qualitative, theoretical taxonomy classifying pathways and circumstances leading to malevolent AI.

Why it matters

This work provides an early structured conceptual framework for AI safety and risk researchers to systematically identify, categorize, and anticipate failure modes leading to dangerous AI systems.

Limits

This is entirely a theoretical and narrative taxonomy without empirical data, quantitative risk modeling, or experimental validation. The abstract does not enumerate the specific categories or mechanisms comprising the taxonomy.

Cited by