  Recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has drawn attention to the
technology's transformative potential, including what some see as its prospects
for causing large-scale harm. We review two influential arguments purporting to
show how AI could pose catastrophic risks. The first argument -- the Problem of
Power-Seeking -- claims that, under certain assumptions, advanced AI systems
are likely to engage in dangerous power-seeking behavior in pursuit of their
goals. We review reasons for thinking that AI systems might seek power, that
they might obtain it, that this could lead to catastrophe, and that we might
build and deploy such systems anyway. The second argument claims that the
development of human-level AI will unlock rapid further progress, culminating
in AI systems far more capable than any human -- this is the Singularity
Hypothesis. Power-seeking behavior on the part of such systems might be
particularly dangerous. We discuss a variety of objections to both arguments
and conclude by assessing the state of the debate.
