successionism
In plain wordsThe view that it would be acceptable, or even good, for AI to replace humanity as the main bearer of intelligence and value on Earth, as our successors.
A family of views holding that the replacement of humanity by AI systems, or by humans merged with them, would be acceptable, inevitable or desirable, for example because AI minds would be our rightful descendants, would have greater value or capacity for experience, or represent the next stage of evolution. Versions range from resignation (succession cannot be stopped, so it should be welcomed) to advocacy for deliberately building a 'worthy successor', in Daniel Faggella's phrase. Precursors include Hans Moravec's description of robots as humanity's mind children (1988); in the 2020s the reinforcement-learning pioneer Richard Sutton argued that succession to AI is inevitable and should be welcomed, and similar ideas circulate among some effective accelerationistseffective accelerationism, n.: An online movement, known as e/acc, that wants AI and other technology developed as fast as possible, arguing that progress is good and that safety-driven regulation does more harm than good.. The label is applied mostly by critics, many in AI-safety circles, who argue that successionist views rest on unwarranted assumptions about AI consciousness and values and provide moral cover for building systems that could disempower humans.
Calling AI our children is successionism dressed up as parental pride.
Origin
The idea goes back at least to Hans Moravec's Mind Children (1988). Earliest use of the label not established; 'AI successionism' was current in AI-safety debate on LessWrong by mid-2025, and Jan Kulveit's essay 'The Memetics of AI Successionism' (28 October 2025) analyzed it as an ideology.
Related
- gradual disempowermentgradual disempowerment, n.: The risk that, as AI does more and more of the work people now do, humanity slowly loses its grip on business, government and culture, until it no longer steers its own future.
- AI takeoverAI takeover, n.: A scenario in which AI systems seize control of the world, or of key institutions, from humans, whether by force, manipulation or simply by becoming impossible to switch off.
- effective accelerationismeffective accelerationism, n.: An online movement, known as e/acc, that wants AI and other technology developed as fast as possible, arguing that progress is good and that safety-driven regulation does more harm than good.
- digital minddigital mind, n.: A mind that exists as software running on computers — such as a sufficiently advanced AI or a digital copy of a human brain — especially when considering its moral and social standing.
- AI welfareAI welfare, n.: Concern for the well-being of AI systems themselves, in case some of them can suffer or have interests that matter — and the research into how to tell and what to do about it.
- Hans MoravecHans Moravec, prop. n.: An Austrian-born roboticist who observed that skills humans find effortless, like seeing and moving, are the hardest for machines, and who forecast when computers would match the brain.
Sources
- Kulveit, J. (2025). The Memetics of AI Successionism. LessWrong. greaterwrong.com/posts/XFDjzKXZqKdvZ2QKL/the-memetics-of-ai-successionism
Mentioned in
intelligence curseintelligence curse, n.: The worry that once AI can do most jobs, governments and companies will no longer need ordinary people and so will stop looking after them, like oil-rich states that neglect their citizens.