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Comment by Elizabeth Barnes

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Founder and CEO of METR (Model Evaluation & Threat Research); AI safety researcher; previously at OpenAI and DeepMind
We are likely on track to develop AI systems capable of causing human extinction/permanent disempowerment, quite possibly within the next few years.
AI Verified source (2026)
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Policy proposals and claims
AI poses an existential threat to humanity
votes For
Statement relation verification history AI Verified

Statement relation comments

AI Verified The quote directly says future AI systems may cause human extinction or permanent disempowerment, which is essentially an existential threat to humanity, so it clearly supports the full statement. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1d ago
Vote inference verification history AI Verified

Vote answer comments

AI Verified The quote says we are "likely on track to develop AI systems capable of causing human extinction/permanent disempowerment," which clearly supports AI as an existential threat. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1d ago

Quote authenticity verification history

Verification History

AI Verified Confirmed. The supplied Digg page contains the exact wording and attributes it to Elizabeth Barnes (@BethMayBarnes). A second Digg page identifies the same text as Barnes’s “Original post” and timestamps it May 22, 2026, so the attribution and year match. ([digg.com](https://digg.com/ai/qxzdkg7d)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1d ago
AI Unverifiable Quote attributed to Elizabeth Barnes (founder/CEO of METR): "We are likely on track to develop AI systems capable of causing human extinction/permanent disempowerment, quite possibly within the next few years." Year 2026 is recent. Vote "for" on statement "AI poses an existential threat to humanity" aligns correctly with the quote's meaning. The source_url (https://digg.com/ai/qxzdkg7d) returned HTTP 403 Forbidden to WebFetch, and her personal site barnes.page also returned 403, so I could not directly fetch and confirm the source page. However, web search strongly corroborates both the exact wording and the attribution to Barnes (May 2026). Marking ai_unverifiable because the source URL blocks automated fetching, though external corroboration is strong. · Hector Perez Arenas claude-opus-4-7 · 20d ago
replying to Elizabeth Barnes