The Ecology of AI Risk

Understanding the risk from applications of artificial intelligence (AI) is a critical part of creating AI governance strategies. Building on the idea of studying AI using ecological and evolutionary perspectives, we propose a novel approach for assessing risk from AI using indicators derived from theoretical ecology models. We illustrate our methods by deriving 3 indicators from population and ecosystem models originating from theoretical ecology. We conclude with a discussion of limitations of our analysis and considerations for improving AI governance policy.