Labour peer warns AI risks pose existential threat without urgent regulation
Richard Hermer, a Labour life peer and former attorney general for England and Wales, argues AI’s rapid development poses an existential risk to humanity. He compares the lack of regulation to allowing a toaster manufacturer to sell a product with a 10% chance of electrocuting users. Hermer highlights two key risks: AI enabling mass destruction through weapons or autonomous systems, and the loss…
Key points
- Former attorney general Richard Hermer warns AI risks existential threats: mass destruction or loss of human agency
- Compares current AI regulation to allowing unsafe toaster manufacturing, calling for urgent international oversight
- Calls for public debate on AI governance, framing it as a matter of democratic control over technological progress
Hermer calls for immediate international coordination and public engagement to shape AI’s development, warning that current self-regulation by tech firms and geopolitical competition between the US and China are insufficient. He cites the recent Hugging Face hack and Jacob Coxon’s resignation from Anthropic as turning points for public awareness. The piece frames AI as a double-edged sword—capable of groundbreaking scientific and medical advances but also exacerbating inequality if concentrated in the hands of a few. Hermer urges governments to intervene before AI surpasses human understanding and control, advocating for democratic debate on who should govern AI and how it should serve society.
When AI is subject to less regulation than your fridge, something is startlingly wrong
The Guardian AI · 12 October 2026
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This text was published by The Guardian AI and written by Richard Hermer. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
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