Humanist superintelligence: It'll either elude or endow humanity

Super-AI could be the world's best invention ever-but only if it abides firmly by the maxim that humans matter above all else

- MUSTAFA SULEYMAN

For decades, the Turing Test was the North Star of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers. Today, it's been quietly surpassed. With reasoning models and agentic capabilities emerging, and with the pace of AI infrastructure build increasing, we have crossed an inflection point on the journey to superintelligence: the point at which AI exceeds human-level performance at all tasks.

Indeed, the most consequential question for our time is not whether AI will surpass us, because in some ways it already has (try beating an AI at general knowledge), in many other ways, it will, and in some ways we will always be unique. The real question, then, is whether we can shape AI to advance human flourishing rather than undermine it. That is the most important challenge of our time.

To be sure, everyone is primed by now to roll their eyes at AI hype. I get it. But the stakes could not be higher. Science and technology have always been humanity's greatest engine of progress. Over the last 250 years, that engine has doubled life expectancy, lifted billions of people out of poverty and given us antibiotics, electricity and instant global communication. AI is the next chapter in this story. It represents our best shot at accelerating scientific discovery, economic growth and human well-being. Whenever you hear about AI, this potential is worth keeping in mind.