Preamble

The States concluding this Treaty, hereinafter referred to as the Parties to the Treaty,

Alarmed by the prospect that the development of artificial superintelligence would lead to the deaths of all people and the end to all human endeavor,

Affirming the necessity of urgent, coordinated, and sustained international action to prevent the creation and deployment of artificial superintelligence under present conditions,

Convinced that the measures to prevent advancement of artificial intelligence capabilities will reduce the chance of human extinction,

Recognizing that the stability of this Treaty relies on the ability to verify the compliance of all Parties,

Recalling the precedent of prior arms control and nonproliferation agreements in addressing global security threats,

Undertaking to co-operate in facilitating the verification of artificial intelligence activities globally when they steer well clear of artificial superintelligence, and seeking to preserve access to the benefits of artificial intelligence systems even while avoiding dangers,

Have agreed as follows:

Precedent

The preamble of this treaty is modeled after that of the NPT^[1], which begins:

Considering the devastation that would be visited upon all mankind by a nuclear war and the consequent need to make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples…

and soon adds:

Affirming the principle that the benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear technology, including any technological by-products which may be derived by nuclear-weapon States from the development of nuclear explosive devices,

should be available for peaceful purposes to all Parties to the Treaty, whether nuclear-weapon or non-nuclear-weapon States…

In so doing, the preamble invites the world to join responsible parties in safeguarding humanity from the catastrophic threat of a powerful technology, and to share in the benefits that can be safely permitted. Our preamble tries to follow this example.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (commonly called the “Non-Proliferation Treaty”) entered into force in 1970 and was extended indefinitely in 1995. Known for its near-universal membership (191 parties), its preamble emphasizes the global hazard of weapons proliferation while affirming that the benefits of peaceful nuclear applications should be available to all parties. ↩︎