Etymology

p(doom)

Today it means: The probability of existentially catastrophic outcomes (doom) as a result of misaligned artificial intelligence, especially one's personal estimate for such an outcome, usually given as a percentage value. Full definition →

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The story

Mathematical notation for the probability (p) of an event (more formally written as P(doom)). Originated on the LessWrong message board around 2010, later popularized by Eliezer Yudkowsky and other AI safety researchers.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.