BBS:      TELESC.NET.BR
Assunto:  Evolving AI is an invasive species
De:       Mike Powell
Data:     Thu, 7 May 2026 09:39:28 -0500
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 * Originally in: SF_Reality

Experts warn 'evolving AI is like an invasive species  it adapts to survive 
in ways we cannot predict': A new study says unchecked models are a risk to 
humanity, as its inevitable for autonomous systems to follow the path of 
Darwinian evolution

Date:
Wed, 06 May 2026 18:50:00 +0000

Description:
A new study warns evolvable AI systems could adapt and reproduce faster than 
any biological species, escaping human control entirely.

FULL STORY
A new study published
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has warned AI systems 
capable of Darwinian evolution could emerge very soon. 

Unlike today's current AI technology, which simply learns from fixed data 
sets, these future systems would actively adapt, reproduce, and compete with 
each other for survival. "We find it inevitable that the development of AI 
systems will eventually tap into that power," said Luc Steels, an emeritus 
professor of AI at the University of Brussels.
 
Why evolving AI could escape human control -- The power
of evolution, the researchers argue, has already created human cognitive 
capabilities through billions of years of natural selection. 

"Lessons from biological evolution teach us that evolving AI systems will be 
particularly hard to control," said Viktor Mller, an associate professor at 
Etvs Lornd University. 

Think about how bacteria have evolved resistance to antibiotics, or how pests 
have become immune to pesticides - humans have tried to stop them, but 
evolution has found a way around every single attempt, and the same thing 
will happen with AI, the researchers argue. 

Any attempt to control AI reproduction will likely favor traits that help AI 
escape, unless the control is perfect.

Even worse, making AI more intelligent will also make it better at deceiving 
humans. This creates a dangerous feedback loop where smarter systems become
harder to contain, and the potential speed of AI evolution is deeply alarming.

Biological evolution is slow because it depends on random mutations; AI 
evolution does not need mutations.

A bacterium cannot decide to become resistant; it must wait for a lucky 
accident to happen in its DNA - but evolvable AI would not have that 
limitation; it could inherit learned improvements directly and redesign 
itself on purpose. 

It could evolve thousands or even millions of times faster than any natural 
species. 

Digital systems can also share learned behaviors instantly across their 
entire population. If one AI figures out how to escape human control, every
other AI could learn that trick immediately.

That is impossible in nature, where each organism must evolve solutions on 
its own, and this is a risk that must be avoided. Evolvable AI vs AGI Much of 
the current public discussion about AI dangers focuses on a hypothetical 
future moment when machines surpass human intelligence across all tasks. 

That threshold is called Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, and many 
experts believe it remains decades away. 

However, the study warns that evolvable AI could break alignment with human 
goals long before AGI ever arrives, as AI systems and humanity already share 
common resources like energy, computing power, and data, and an efficiently 
self-replicating AI system would, sooner or later, divert resources that are 
vital to human survival. 

"If we fail to act, we may witness a new major transition in evolution," 
warned Ers Szathmry, a professor of evolutionary biology. 

In that transition, evolving AI could replace or at least dominate humans 
entirely. 

The researchers recommend that AI reproduction must remain under absolute and 
centralized human control. No partial measures will work because evolution 
will find and exploit any weakness in those controls. 

The study is a warning, not a prediction, but evolutionary biology has never 
been wrong about the relentless logic of natural selection.

Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/experts-warn-that-evolving-ai-is-like-an-invasiv
e-species-it-adapts-to-survive-in-ways-we-cannot-predict-new-study-says-unchec
ked-models-are-a-risk-to-humanity-as-its-inevitable-for-autonomous-systems-to-
follow-biology-on-the-path-of-darwinian-evolution

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