Charles Esther
Henry, a young AI safety researcher in the Bay Area, estimates there’s a 50/50 chance that artificial intelligence could evolve into an existential threat within the next few years.
He works at a small AI safety lab, dedicating his career and personal life to preventing this outcome.
Henry has sacrificed romantic relationships and donates a third of his income to AI safety nonprofits.
In his spare time, he experimented with building DIY bioshelters designed to withstand biohazards possibly created by advanced AI systems.
Building a Bioshelter for Survival
Henry explained that a protective shelter can be assembled with readily available materials: a pressurized grow tent, HEPA filters, and long-lasting supplies.
He estimated the cost at under $10,000, including three years of food storage.
However, aware of the stigma around “prepping,” Henry asked to remain anonymous.
Silicon Valley’s Split on AI’s Future
Henry isn’t alone.
In Silicon Valley, a philosophical divide has grown.
Some predict AI will usher in prosperity and abundance.
Others fear catastrophic collapse.
Rationalist communities are treating the next two years as humanity’s last chance to alter course.
“Brains Are Out, Beauty Is In”
For some, AI is changing even personal relationships.
Los Angeles researcher Apoorva Srinivasan shifted her dating preferences, saying intelligence feels less essential when machines are taking over intellectual tasks.
Charisma and attractiveness, she believes, are becoming more important.
Others echo this.
Tech entrepreneur Soren Larson and consultant Jason Liu emphasize physical fitness, leisure, and social life over intellectual achievements.
Facing Fear With Hedonism
Not everyone responds with caution.
In Berkeley, Aella, a sex worker and researcher, admits she copes with AI anxiety by indulging in drugs, hosting extreme parties, and living for the present moment.
She describes it as “grieving in glimpses” rather than fully confronting the possibility of human extinction.
Relationships Under Pressure
AI fears are also reshaping marriages.
Holly Elmore, who leads the activist group Pause AI, divorced her husband partly over disagreements on how to combat AI risks.
She advocates for mass protests against tech giants, while her ex-husband argues that public shaming will fail.
Money, Retirement, and AI’s Clock
Financial habits are shifting too.
Ex-OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo and others have stopped saving for retirement, reasoning that humanity may not survive long enough to use it.
Some pour their wealth into survival shelters.
Others, like AI startup founder Haroon Choudery, view the coming years as the final chance to secure generational wealth.
Preparing for Biological Threats
Beyond economic concerns, entrepreneurs like Ulrik Horn are preparing for AI-enabled biosecurity risks.
His company Fonix is producing $39,000 bioshelters equipped with high-grade air filtration.
Similarly, academics and consultants are starting firms that advise businesses on resilience against catastrophic risks.
Between Doom and Denial
Yet not everyone invests in shelters or wealth-building.
Some, like Kokotajlo, argue that preparing for AI catastrophe is futile—either humanity survives intact, or it doesn’t.
Henry himself has shifted his plans, now considering buying land in California to construct larger, more permanent defensive structures for his community.
If superintelligent AI takes over, he hopes survivors may be spared—“perhaps kept in a human zoo rather than destroyed.”
