Roko's basilisk is a thought experiment about the potential risks involved in developing artificial intelligence. The experiment's premise is that an all-powerful artificial intelligence from the future could retroactively punish those who did not help bring about its existence, including those who merely knew about the possible development of such a being.
<a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk#.22Friendly.22_artificial_superintelligence">http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk#.22Friendly.22_artificial_superintelligence</a>
<a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk#.22Friendly.22_artificial_superintelligence">http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk#.22Friendly.22_artificial_superintelligence</a>