The terms and conditions you didn't know you'd agreed to.
The rapid advancement of AI is one of the biggest technological and societal questions of our time. But while conversations around AI have often focused on innovation, efficiency and opportunity, what happens when humanity loses control of what it creates?
That's the question behind Do Not Accept, our new global campaign for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), challenging the race towards artificial superintelligence (ASI) and calling for humanity to have a say in its own future.
As the world's first AI-safety organisation, MIRI wanted to help mainstream audiences understand where AI development is heading, towards artificial superintelligence, and what's at stake if we get there.
Our response was to take an issue typically confined to researchers, technologists and policymakers and make it emotionally resonant for everyone.
The campaign centres on a familiar behaviour: millions of us routinely accept the terms and conditions of our technology without reading the fine print.
Do Not Accept turns that behaviour into a powerful call to action, challenging the idea that humanity's future should be decided by a handful of technology companies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxSjxOL8GQ
At the heart of the campaign is a film directed by Alex Takács at ProdCo, celebrating ordinary human lives experiencing the most extraordinary moments.
Rather than relying on the dystopian tropes of science fiction, the film brings together 71 genuine human moments from 19 countries, selected from more than 1,300 clips submitted through an open call for humanity's best footage.
This celebration of human existence is interrupted by the terms and conditions of artificial superintelligence, confronting audiences with the risks of losing human control, reaching a point of no return and ultimately human extinction.
A recurring X motif highlights humanity's assumed acceptance of ASI before transforming into a symbol of extinction, literally deleting people from their environments.
Beyond the film, which is featured in premium cinema spots across the US, the campaign extends into social and out of home across the New York City subway.
Taking the form of a public safety warning, the creative encourages audiences to know the risks of artificial superintelligence and directs them to donotaccept.ai, where MIRI's experts outline the terms and conditions facing humanity.
Part of the wider strategic platform For a Human Future, Do Not Accept aims to turn public awareness into public refusal.
Because the development of artificial superintelligence, and its consequences, shouldn't be treated as inevitable, or as something the public has no meaningful say in.