  Framed in positive terms, this report examines how technical AI research
might be steered in a manner that is more attentive to humanity's long-term
prospects for survival as a species. In negative terms, we ask what existential
risks humanity might face from AI development in the next century, and by what
principles contemporary technical research might be directed to address those
risks.
  A key property of hypothetical AI technologies is introduced, called
\emph{prepotence}, which is useful for delineating a variety of potential
existential risks from artificial intelligence, even as AI paradigms might
shift. A set of \auxref{dirtot} contemporary research \directions are then
examined for their potential benefit to existential safety. Each research
direction is explained with a scenario-driven motivation, and examples of
existing work from which to build. The research directions present their own
risks and benefits to society that could occur at various scales of impact, and
in particular are not guaranteed to benefit existential safety if major
developments in them are deployed without adequate forethought and oversight.
As such, each direction is accompanied by a consideration of potentially
negative side effects.
