Is AI Going to Kill Us? A Researcher Raises the Alarm
¿La IA nos va a matar? Un investigador lanza la alarma
Sep 16, 2026·1 min read·Graded Spanish · word-by-word audio
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Jacob Coxon no es un profeta religioso ni el líder de una secta. Es un investigador que hasta hace poco trabajaba en Anthropic, una de las grandes empresas de inteligencia artificial del mundo.
Lo más sorprendente es que los dueños de las cuatro principales empresas del sector no lo desmintieron. Sam Altman, de OpenAI; Dario Amodei, de Anthropic; Demis Hassabis, de Google DeepMind, y hasta Elon Musk salieron a decir que Coxon tenía razón. Todos pidieron frenar el desarrollo de la IA y crear reglas comunes.
Con Carlos del Castillo, periodista especializado en tecnología, analizamos las claves detrás de estas advertencias apocalípticas. ¿Por qué quienes siempre han odiado las reglas ahora quieren poner límites? ¿Es una estrategia o una preocupación real?
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Watch out, English speaker
English speakers often use 'and' in negative sentences (e.g., 'He is not a prophet and a leader'), but Spanish requires 'ni' instead of 'y' when listing negated items. Also, if 'ni' comes after the verb, you must add 'no' before the verb: 'No es profeta ni líder.' Remember: double negatives are mandatory in Spanish, unlike in English.
English expresses 'the most ... is that' with a superlative adjective, but Spanish uses the neuter article 'lo' plus an adjective and 'es que': 'Lo más importante es que...' Do not translate literally as 'The most important is that'; the structure is fixed. Also, 'lo' is invariable and does not change for gender or number.
English often omits the definite article in generalizations (e.g., 'AI concerns experts'), but Spanish requires it: 'El nivel de autonomía de la IA preocupa a los expertos.' Similarly, abstract nouns like 'humanity' take 'la' when specific. Pay attention to article usage to sound natural.
Key vocabulary
profetam.
prophet (religious or predictive figure)
“Jacob Coxon no es un profeta religioso.”— Jacob Coxon is not a religious prophet.
Pattern un profeta religioso a religious prophet
Compare vidente prophet
plural profetas
💡 From Greek prophētēs, pro- (beforehand) + phanai (to speak), meaning 'one who speaks beforehand'.
sectaf.
sect, cult
“No es el líder de ninguna secta.”— He is not the leader of any sect.
Pattern el líder de una secta the leader of a sect
Compare culto cult
plural sectas
💡 From Latin secta, meaning 'a path followed', related to seguir (to follow).
autonomíaf.
autonomy, independence
“El nivel de autonomía de la IA preocupa a los expertos.”— The level of AI autonomy worries experts.
Pattern tener autonomía to have autonomy
Compare independencia independence
plural autonomías
💡 auto- (self) + nomos (law), meaning 'to make one's own laws'.
humanidadf.
humanity, humankind
“La IA podría acabar con la humanidad.”— AI could wipe out humanity.
Pattern acabar con la humanidad to end humanity
Compare género humano humankind
plural humanidades (humanities)
💡 From Latin humanitas; note that the h is silent.
desmentirv.
to deny, refute
“Los empresarios no desmintieron a Coxon.”— The businessmen did not deny Coxon's claims.
Pattern desmentir una noticia to deny a news story
Compare negar to deny
conjugated like sentir: desmiento, desmientes, desmiente...
💡 des- (negative prefix) + mentir (to lie), meaning 'to expose a lie'.
frenarv.
to brake, slow down, curb
“Pidieron frenar el desarrollo de la IA.”— They called for slowing down AI development.
Pattern frenar el desarrollo to slow development
Compare detener to stop
regular conjugation: freno, frenas, frena...
💡 From freno (brake); imagine stepping on the brake to slow the car down.
advertenciaf.
warning, caution
“Las advertencias apocalípticas sorprenden al mundo.”— The apocalyptic warnings surprise the world.
“El tono apocalíptico del investigador llama la atención.”— The researcher's apocalyptic tone draws attention.
Pattern una advertencia apocalíptica an apocalyptic warning
Compare catastrófico catastrophic
feminine apocalíptica, plural apocalípticos
💡 From Greek apokalypsis, meaning 'revelation'; the biblical Book of Revelation is Apocalipsis.
estrategiaf.
strategy, tactic
“¿Es una estrategia o una preocupación real?”— Is it a strategy or a real concern?
Pattern una estrategia de marketing a marketing strategy
Compare plan plan
plural estrategias
💡 From Greek strategos (general), originally referring to a general's art of command.
preocupaciónf.
concern, worry
“La preocupación por la IA crece cada día.”— Concern about AI grows every day.
Pattern una preocupación real a real concern
Compare inquietud unease
plural preocupaciones
💡 From preocupar (to worry), pre- (beforehand) + ocupar (to occupy), worries occupying the mind.
Grammar spotlight
Negative coordination: no...ni...
A2
When negating two or more coordinated elements, Spanish uses ni instead of y. If ni comes after the verb, the verb must be preceded by no. For example: No es profeta ni líder. (He is neither a prophet nor a leader.)
“Jacob Coxon no es un profeta religioso ni el líder de ninguna secta.”— Jacob Coxon is not a religious prophet nor the leader of any sect.
⚠️ Do not write no es profeta y no es líder; use ni to connect the elements.
lo más + adjective + es que clause
B1
This structure emphasizes 'the most ... thing is ...'. Lo is the neuter article, followed by an adjective, and es que introduces a clause specifying the situation. For example: Lo más importante es que estás bien. (The most important thing is that you're okay.)
“Lo más sorprendente es que los dueños de las cuatro principales empresas del sector no lo desmintieron.”— The most surprising thing is that the owners of the four main companies in the sector did not deny it.
⚠️ Do not omit the neuter article lo; you cannot say más sorprendente es que.
Sentence patterns to steal
Lo más sorprendente es que los dueños de las cuatro principales empresas del sector no lo desmintieron.
The most surprising thing is that the owners of the four main companies in the sector did not deny it.
Lo más + adj. + es que + clauseThe adjective can be replaced with importante/interesante/preocupante, etc.
Todos pidieron frenar el desarrollo de la IA y crear reglas comunes.
They all called for slowing down the development of AI and creating common rules.
pedir + infinitive + y + infinitiveThe infinitives can be replaced with other verb phrases, such as reducir el riesgo.
¿Por qué quienes siempre han odiado las reglas ahora quieren poner límites?
Why do those who have always hated rules now want to set limits?
¿Por qué quienes + clause + ahora + verb?The quienes clause can be replaced with other clauses describing groups of people.
El nivel de autonomía que está alcanzando la IA puede acabar con la humanidad en menos de cinco años.
The level of autonomy that AI is reaching could end humanity in less than five years.
El nivel de + noun + que está alcanzando + subject + puede + infinitiveThe noun and subject can be replaced, e.g., El poder de la tecnología que está creciendo.
The AI Safety Debate in Spain
The Spanish media outlet elDiario.es's podcast Un tema Al día is known for explaining current events in 15 minutes each day and has won the Ondas Award for Best New Podcast. This discussion of AI doomsday risks reflects the high level of attention that European society pays to AI regulation. The EU has passed the Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive law regulating AI.
Source: elDiario.es / EU Artificial Intelligence Act