{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T08:41:13Z","timestamp":1767861673595,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":78,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,30]],"date-time":"2018-09-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1538265600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Information"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Superintelligence is a potential type of future artificial intelligence (AI) that is significantly more intelligent than humans in all major respects. If built, superintelligence could be a transformative event, with potential consequences that are massively beneficial or catastrophic. Meanwhile, the prospect of superintelligence is the subject of major ongoing debate, which includes a significant amount of misinformation. Superintelligence misinformation is potentially dangerous, ultimately leading bad decisions by the would-be developers of superintelligence and those who influence them. This paper surveys strategies to counter superintelligence misinformation. Two types of strategies are examined: strategies to prevent the spread of superintelligence misinformation and strategies to correct it after it has spread. In general, misinformation can be difficult to correct, suggesting a high value of strategies to prevent it. This paper is the first extended study of superintelligence misinformation. It draws heavily on the study of misinformation in psychology, political science, and related fields, especially misinformation about global warming. The strategies proposed can be applied to lay public attention to superintelligence, AI education programs, and efforts to build expert consensus.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/info9100244","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,2]],"date-time":"2018-10-02T08:23:50Z","timestamp":1538468630000},"page":"244","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Countering Superintelligence Misinformation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2429-5232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seth D.","family":"Baum","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Catastrophic Risk Institute, PO Box 40364, Washington, DC 20016, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2018, September 09). Definition of Misinformation in English by Oxford Dictionaries. Available online: https:\/\/en.oxforddictionaries.com\/definition\/misinformation."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cook, J., Ecker, U., and Lewandowsky, S. (2015). Misinformation and how to correct it. Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, John Wiley & Sons.","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118900772.etrds0222"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Kelly, K. (2018, September 24). The Myth of a Superhuman AI. Available online: https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2017\/04\/the-myth-of-a-superhuman-ai."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H\u00e4ggstr\u00f6m, O. (2016). Here Be Dragons: Science, Technology and the Future of Humanity, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780198723547.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"H\u00e4ggstr\u00f6m, O. (2018, September 24). Michael Shermer Fails in His Attempt to Argue That AI Is Not an Existential Threat. Available online: http:\/\/haggstrom.blogspot.com\/2017\/09\/michael-shermer-fails-in-his-attempt-to.html."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"H\u00e4ggstr\u00f6m, O. (2018, September 09). The AI meeting in Brussels Last Week. Available online: http:\/\/haggstrom.blogspot.com\/2017\/10\/the-ai-meeting-in-brussels-last-week.html."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Muehlhauser, L. (2014). Three Misconceptions in Edge.org\u2019s Conversation on \u201cThe Myth of AI\u201d, Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Available online: https:\/\/intelligence.org\/2014\/11\/18\/misconceptions-edge-orgs-conversation-myth-ai."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Torres, P. (2018, September 24). Why Superintelligence Is a Threat That Should Be Taken Seriously. Available online: https:\/\/thebulletin.org\/why-superintelligence-threat-should-be-taken-seriously11219."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Torres, P. (2018, September 09). A Detailed Critique of One Section of Steven Pinker\u2019s Chapter \u201cExistential Threats\u201d in Enlightenment Now. Available online: https:\/\/docs.wixstatic.com\/ugd\/d9aaad_8b76c6c86f314d0288161ae8a47a9821.pdf."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Oreskes, N., and Conway, E.M. (2010). Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, Bloomsbury."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grandjean, P. (2013). Only One Chance: How Environmental Pollution Impairs Brain Development\u2014And How to Protect the Brains of the Next Generation, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199985388.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baum, S.D. (2018). Superintelligence skepticism as a political tool. Information, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/info9090209"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001","article-title":"Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press","volume":"14","author":"Boykoff","year":"2004","journal-title":"Glob. Environ. Chang."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1038\/nclimate1720","article-title":"The pivotal role of perceived scientific consensus in acceptance of science","volume":"3","author":"Lewandowsky","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat. Clim. Chang."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rapp, D.N., and Braasch, J.L.G. (2014). Correcting misinformation\u2014A challenge for education and cognitive science. Processing Inaccurate Information: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives from Cognitive Science and the Educational Sciences, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9737.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1007\/s00146-016-0677-0","article-title":"On the promotion of safe and socially beneficial artificial intelligence","volume":"32","author":"Baum","year":"2017","journal-title":"AI Soc."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.1177\/1529100612451018","article-title":"Misinformation and its correction: Continued influence and successful debiasing","volume":"13","author":"Lewandowsky","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci. Public Interest"},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Pinker, S. (2018, September 09). We\u2019re Told to Fear Robots. But Why Do We Think They\u2019ll Turn on Us?\u201d. Available online: https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/robot-uprising-enlightenment-now."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.2478\/jagi-2014-0001","article-title":"Artificial general intelligence: Concept, state of the art, and future prospects","volume":"5","author":"Goertzel","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Artif. Gen. Intell."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baum, S.D. (2018, September 09). A Survey of Artificial General Intelligence Projects for Ethics, Risk, and Policy. Available online: https:\/\/ssrn.com\/abstract=3070741.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3070741"},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"(2018, September 09). Cognitive Artificial Intelligence: The MicroPsi Project. Available online: http:\/\/cognitive-ai.com."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Searle, J.R. (New York Review of Books, 2014). What Your Computer Can\u2019t Know, New York Review of Books."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Logan, R.K. (2017). Can computers become conscious, an essential condition for the Singularity?. Information, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/info8040161"},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"7","article-title":"The singularity: A philosophical analysis","volume":"17","author":"Chalmers","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Conscious. Stud."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Wang, P., Goertzel, B., and Franklin, S. (2008). The basic AI drives. Artificial General Intelligence 2008: Proceedings of the First AGI Conference, IOS."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"50","article-title":"Infusing advanced AGIs with human-like value systems: Two theses","volume":"26","author":"Goertzel","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Evol. Technol."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"419","article-title":"Modeling and interpreting expert disagreement about artificial superintelligence","volume":"41","author":"Baum","year":"2017","journal-title":"Informatica"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1007\/s11023-015-9365-y","article-title":"Why AI doomsayers are like sceptical theists and why it matters","volume":"25","author":"Danaher","year":"2015","journal-title":"Minds Mach."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"Allhof, F. (2007). Global technology regulation and potentially apocalyptic technological threats. Nanoethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"217","article-title":"Safety engineering for artificial general intelligence","volume":"32","author":"Yampolskiy","year":"2013","journal-title":"Topoi"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1080\/02724988843000168","article-title":"Editing episodic memory following the identification of error","volume":"40A","author":"Wilkes","year":"1988","journal-title":"Q. J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1420","DOI":"10.1037\/0278-7393.20.6.1420","article-title":"Sources of the continued influence effect: When misinformation in memory affects later inferences","volume":"20","author":"Johnson","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cognit."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1111\/ajps.12162","article-title":"The effect of fact-checking on elites: A field experiment on U.S. state legislators","volume":"59","author":"Nyhan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Am. J. Political Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.5210\/bsi.v27i0.9127","article-title":"Fighting fake news and post-truth politics with behavioral science: The pro-truth pledge","volume":"27","author":"Tsipursky","year":"2018","journal-title":"Behav. Soc. Issues"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1029\/2009EO030002","article-title":"Examining the scientific consensus on climate change","volume":"90","author":"Doran","year":"2009","journal-title":"Eos"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1029","DOI":"10.1175\/BAMS-D-13-00091.1","article-title":"Meteorologists\u2019 views about global warming: A survey of American Meteorological Society professional members","volume":"95","author":"Stenhouse","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"De La Harpe, J. (2018, September 09). TV Meteorologists, Weathercasters Briefed by Climate Experts at AMS Short Course. Available online: https:\/\/www.yaleclimateconnections.org\/2009\/07\/tv-meteorologists-weathercasters-briefedby-climate-experts-at-ams-short-course."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Ward, B. (2018, September 09). 15 Midwest TV Meteorologists, Weathercasters Weigh Climate Science at Chicago\u2019s Field Museum Climate Science for Meteorologists. Available online: https:\/\/www.yaleclimateconnections.org\/2009\/05\/meteorologists-weathercasters-weigh-climate-science-chicago."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nyhan, B. (2010). Why the \u2018death panel\u2019 myth wouldn\u2019t die: Misinformation in the health care reform debate. The Forum, 8.","DOI":"10.2202\/1540-8884.1354"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"AA6","DOI":"10.5210\/bsi.v27i0.8186","article-title":"Addressing behaviors that lead to sharing fake news","volume":"27","author":"Tsipursky","year":"2018","journal-title":"Behav. Soc. Issues"},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Penguin."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"Marshall, G. (2014). Don\u2019t Even Think about It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change, Bloomsbury."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"705","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.2014.0949","article-title":"Greenwash vs. brownwash: Exaggeration and undue modesty in corporate sustainability disclosure","volume":"26","author":"Kim","year":"2014","journal-title":"Organ. Sci."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"BBC (2018, September 09). Google \u2018to end\u2019 Pentagon Artificial Intelligence Project. Available online: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-44341490."},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"366","article-title":"Accelerating AI","volume":"104","author":"McGinnis","year":"2010","journal-title":"Northwest. Univ. Law Rev."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"307","article-title":"Minimizing global catastrophic and existential risks from emerging technologies through international law","volume":"31","author":"Wilson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Va. Environ. Law J."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lin, P., Abney, K., and Jenkins, R. (2017). Liability law for present and future robotics technology. Robot Ethics 2.0, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780190652951.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1087","DOI":"10.3758\/MC.38.8.1087","article-title":"Explicit warnings reduce but do not eliminate the continued influence of misinformation","volume":"38","author":"Ecker","year":"2010","journal-title":"Mem. Cognit."},{"key":"ref_50","first-page":"14","article-title":"Belief in the singularity is logically brittle","volume":"19","author":"Bringsjord","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Conscious. Stud."},{"key":"ref_51","first-page":"167","article-title":"Response to the singularity by David Chalmers","volume":"19","author":"McDermott","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Conscious. Stud."},{"key":"ref_52","first-page":"141","article-title":"The Singularity: A reply","volume":"19","author":"Chalmers","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Conscious. Stud."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2010.09.006","article-title":"How long until human-level AI? Results from an expert assessment","volume":"78","author":"Baum","year":"2011","journal-title":"Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M\u00fcller, V.C. (2016). Future progress in artificial intelligence: A survey of expert opinion. Fundamental Issues of Artificial Intelligence, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-26485-1_33"},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"729","DOI":"10.1613\/jair.1.11222","article-title":"When will AI exceed human performance? Evidence from AI experts","volume":"62","author":"Grace","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Artif. Intell. Res."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1686","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1103618","article-title":"The scientific consensus on climate change","volume":"306","author":"Oreskes","year":"2004","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"462","DOI":"10.1038\/nclimate1295","article-title":"Support for climate policy and societal action are linked to perceptions about scientific agreement","volume":"1","author":"Ding","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nat. Clim. Chang."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"511","DOI":"10.1007\/s10584-013-0704-9","article-title":"Perceived scientific agreement and support for government action on climate change in the USA","volume":"119","author":"McCright","year":"2013","journal-title":"Clim. Chang."},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Van der Linden, S.L., Leiserowitz, A.A., Feinberg, G.D., and Maibach, E.W. (2015). The scientific consensus on climate change as a gateway belief: Experimental evidence. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0118489"},{"key":"ref_60","unstructured":"Bensinger, R. (2018, September 09). Sam Harris and Eliezer Yudkowsky on \u2018AI: Racing toward the Brink\u2019. Available online: https:\/\/intelligence.org\/2018\/02\/28\/sam-harris-and-eliezer-yudkowsky."},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.93.3.415","article-title":"Bridging the partisan divide: Self-affirmation reduces ideological closed-mindedness and inflexibility in negotiation","volume":"93","author":"Cohen","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_62","unstructured":"Boucher, P. (2018). The three laws of artificial intelligence: Dispelling common myths. Should We Fear Artificial Intelligence? In-Depth Analysis, European Parliamentary Research Service, Strategic Foresight Unit."},{"key":"ref_63","unstructured":"(2018, September 09). J\u00fcrgen Schmidhuber\u2019s Home Page. Available online: http:\/\/people.idsia.ch\/~juergen."},{"key":"ref_64","unstructured":"Legg, S. (2008). Machine Super Intelligence. [Doctoral\u2019s Thesis, University of Lugano]."},{"key":"ref_65","unstructured":"More, M., and Vita-More, N. (2010). The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_66","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1111\/1758-5899.12002","article-title":"Existential risk prevention as global priority","volume":"4","author":"Bostrom","year":"2013","journal-title":"Glob. Policy"},{"key":"ref_67","unstructured":"Torres, P. (2017). Morality, Foresight & Human Flourishing an Introduction to Existential Risks, Pitchstone Publishing."},{"key":"ref_68","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1080\/13669877.2010.511246","article-title":"Cultural cognition of scientific consensus","volume":"14","author":"Kahan","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Risk Res."},{"key":"ref_69","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1017\/bpp.2016.2","article-title":"Motivated numeracy and enlightened self-government","volume":"1","author":"Kahan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behav. Public Policy"},{"key":"ref_70","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.1080\/03637751003758193","article-title":"A meta-analysis of research on inoculation theory","volume":"77","author":"Banas","year":"2010","journal-title":"Commun. Monogr."},{"key":"ref_71","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cook, J., Lewandowsky, S., and Ecker, U.K.H. (2017). Neutralizing misinformation through inoculation: Exposing misleading argumentation techniques reduces their influence. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0175799"},{"key":"ref_72","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9221.2012.00935.x","article-title":"Beliefs don\u2019t always persevere: How political figures are punished when positive information about them is discredited","volume":"34","author":"Cobb","year":"2013","journal-title":"Political Psychol."},{"key":"ref_73","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1017\/XPS.2014.22","article-title":"Displacing misinformation about events: An experimental test of causal corrections","volume":"2","author":"Nyhan","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Exp. Political Sci."},{"key":"ref_74","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"713","DOI":"10.1086\/426605","article-title":"How warnings about false claims become recommendations","volume":"31","author":"Skurnik","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Consum. Res."},{"key":"ref_75","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1080\/00986280902959986","article-title":"The effect of refuting misconceptions in the introductory psychology class","volume":"36","author":"Kowalski","year":"2009","journal-title":"Teach. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_76","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"545","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797611402512","article-title":"Dialogic argumentation as a vehicle for developing young adolescents\u2019 thinking","volume":"22","author":"Kuhn","year":"2011","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_77","first-page":"159","article-title":"Agnotology as a teaching tool: Learning climate science by studying misinformation","volume":"109","author":"Bedford","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_78","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.2307\/747886","article-title":"Promoting conceptual change in science: A comparative meta-analysis of instructional interventions from reading education and science education","volume":"28","author":"Guzzetti","year":"1993","journal-title":"Read. Res. Q."}],"container-title":["Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/9\/10\/244\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T15:23:18Z","timestamp":1760196198000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/9\/10\/244"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,30]]},"references-count":78,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,10]]}},"alternative-id":["info9100244"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/info9100244","relation":{},"ISSN":["2078-2489"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2078-2489","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,30]]}}}