PREPARE FOR SUPERINTELLIGENCE · A PERSONAL PLAN IN 3 MINUTES
Ready for superintelligence?
Nobody knows when, or if, AI becomes smarter than people at most things. You can still get ready for a world that keeps getting more automated, whichever way it goes. Answer twelve questions and get a plan for your weakest areas first. Nothing leaves your browser.
𝕏 Post this on XWhat are the six readiness areas?
What does the Work and skills area cover?
Use an AI assistant for one real task every day for a month, and write down what it got wrong.
What does the Money and resilience area cover?
Build an emergency fund that covers several months of costs, in a plain savings account.
What does the Information and deepfakes area cover?
Agree a family code word for urgent calls or voice notes asking for money.
What does the Privacy and security area cover?
Turn on two-factor sign-in (an app or passkey, not SMS) for email, bank and phone carrier.
What does the Health, people and community area cover?
Keep in-person friendships that do not run through a screen; they are the hardest thing to automate.
What does the Civic voice area cover?
Read one primary source on AI policy where you live, not a summary of it.
What is the 3-minute readiness check?
What is the full guide for how regular people can prepare?
Practical steps for anyone, whatever happens with superintelligence. Open a section to read it.
Understand what is (and isn't) coming
- Superintelligence means AI that is better than the best humans at most thinking work. Nobody knows if or when it arrives; serious estimates run from a few years to never. Plan for a range, not a date.
- What is already happening is easier to plan for: AI that writes, codes, summarises, translates, draws and talks well enough to change how many jobs are done.
- Follow measured signals, not hype. SIREN counts activity hourly; How the SIREN AI activity index is computed · methodology shows what it can and cannot tell you.
Your work: get ahead of the change
- Audit your week. List your tasks and mark each: routine screen work, judgment, people, or hands-on. Routine screen work is what AI absorbs first.
- Learn the tools in your field now. An hour a day for a month with the assistant your industry uses beats any course. Keep notes on where it fails.
- Grow the durable skills: judgment under uncertainty, explaining things to people, negotiating, managing, caring, physical trades, and checking AI work.
- Keep a side option. A second skill, a certification, or a small side income makes a layoff a setback instead of a crisis.
- Use the How do I AI-proof my job? plan for step-by-step moves.
Your money: resilience over prediction
- Build an emergency fund that covers several months of essential costs, in an ordinary insured savings account.
- Pay down high-interest debt; it is the surest return there is.
- Do not bet your savings on AI hype, AI coins or "superintelligence funds". Scammers love a frightening headline.
- Spread risk and get advice from a licensed, fee-only financial adviser. Nothing here is financial advice.
Your information: don't get fooled
- Assume any voice, video or photo can be faked. Check where it was posted first and by whom; Where can you find real clips of AI leaders? does this for video.
- Agree a family code word for any urgent call or message asking for money or secrets. Voice-clone scams target parents and grandparents.
- Slow down on anything that makes you angry or scared in seconds; that is how manipulation works, human or AI.
- Keep a few sources that publish corrections and methods. Drop the ones that only publish certainty.
Your digital security: lock the doors
- Turn on two-factor sign-in with an authenticator app or passkey (not SMS) for email, bank, phone carrier and social accounts.
- Use a password manager and unique passwords everywhere.
- Freeze your credit with the three bureaus (free in the US); unfreeze only when you need to.
- Back up your photos and documents to two places, one offline.
- Remove your listings from people-search sites, and share less publicly: AI makes scraping and impersonation cheap.
Your household: ready for outages
- More automation means more systems that can fail together. Keep water, food, light, power and cash for at least three days, ideally two weeks.
- Know how to reach family if phones and the internet are down: a meeting place and an out-of-area contact.
- What belongs in a 72-hour prepper kit? sizes it for your household.
Your kids and family
- Teach AI literacy early: AI can be helpful and confidently wrong at the same time.
- Talk about fakes, scams and why people should never share personal details or photos with strangers, human or bot.
- Encourage what AI cannot replace: friendships, sport, making things with their hands, and asking good questions.
Your mind and your people
- Worrying about AI is normal. Limit doom-scrolling; check in on the news on purpose, not all day.
- Invest in in-person community: neighbours, clubs, faith groups, volunteering. Trust between people becomes more valuable, not less.
- Find meaning that does not depend on being the fastest at a task: craft, care, service, learning for its own sake.
Your voice
- Read one primary source on AI rules where you live, and tell your representatives what you want. They count messages.
- Support independent AI safety and evaluation work if you can, with time, skills or money.
- Ask the companies you buy from how they use AI with your data, and choose the ones that answer.
What is a 30-day starter plan for SI readiness?
What do you do in Week 1 of the SI plan?
Turn on two-factor and a password manager. Agree a family code word. Use an AI assistant for one real task each day.
What do you do in Week 2 of the SI plan?
Audit your work week. Start or top up an emergency fund. Freeze your credit.
What do you do in Week 3 of the SI plan?
Build a 72-hour kit. Back up photos and documents. Pick one durable skill and book time for it.
What do you do in Week 4 of the SI plan?
Talk with your family about AI and fakes. Reach out to two people outside work. Review your plan and set the next 30 days.
What should you not do when preparing for SI?
- Panic-sell, quit your job or move your life on a headline.
- Buy "AI-proof" courses, coins or bunkers from people selling fear.
- Trust a video, voice or screenshot because it looks real.
- Hand an AI app your passwords, ID documents or bank logins.
- Assume it is all hype, or that it is all over. Both are bets, and neither is a plan.
Where can you keep going from here?
How do I AI-proof my job? →
Where AI hits your work, and how to grow with it.
What belongs in a 72-hour prepper kit? →
The physical side: water, food, power, documents.
What AI breakthroughs has SIREN tracked? →
The good news, because there is a lot of it.
General information, not financial, legal, career or medical advice. SIREN counts AI activity; it does not predict superintelligence.
What questions do people actually ask?
Ready for superintelligence?
Nobody knows when, or if, AI becomes smarter than people at most things. You can still get ready for a world that keeps getting more automated, whichever way it goes. Answer twelve questions and get a plan for your weakest areas first. Nothing leaves your browser.
What are the six readiness areas?
Six areas: work and skills, money and resilience, information and deepfakes, privacy and security, health, people and community, and civic voice.
What is the 3-minute readiness check?
Answer twelve questions and get a plan for your weakest areas first. Nothing leaves your browser.
What is the full guide for how regular people can prepare?
Practical steps for anyone, whatever happens with superintelligence. Open a section to read it.
What is a 30-day starter plan for SI readiness?
Four weeks of concrete moves: two-factor and a password manager, audit your work week, build a 72-hour kit, talk with your family about AI and fakes.
What should you not do when preparing for SI?
Do not panic-sell, quit your job or move your life on a headline. Do not buy fear products. Do not trust a video because it looks real. Do not hand an AI app your passwords or bank logins.
Where can you keep going from here?
Continue with How do I AI-proof my job?, the 72-hour prepper kit, and What AI breakthroughs has SIREN tracked.
Does this page predict when superintelligence arrives?
SIREN counts AI activity; it does not predict superintelligence. General information, not financial, legal, career or medical advice.
What does the 3-minute check cover?
Six areas: work and skills, money and resilience, information and deepfakes, privacy and security, health, people and community, and civic voice. Answer twelve questions and get a plan for your weakest areas first.
Does anything from the quiz leave my browser?
Nothing leaves your browser. Answer twelve questions and get a plan for your weakest areas first.
Does SIREN publish an SI-ready doom score?
No. Activity tempo, not probability of harm. This page is a personal readiness check — not a probability of harm or an arrival date.
What does the Work and skills area cover?
Use an AI assistant for one real task every day for a month, and write down what it got wrong.
What does the Money and resilience area cover?
Build an emergency fund that covers several months of costs, in a plain savings account.
What does the Information and deepfakes area cover?
Agree a family code word for urgent calls or voice notes asking for money.
What does the Privacy and security area cover?
Turn on two-factor sign-in (an app or passkey, not SMS) for email, bank and phone carrier.
What does the Health, people and community area cover?
Keep in-person friendships that do not run through a screen; they are the hardest thing to automate.
What does the Civic voice area cover?
Read one primary source on AI policy where you live, not a summary of it.
What do you do in Week 1 of the SI plan?
Turn on two-factor and a password manager. Agree a family code word. Use an AI assistant for one real task each day.
What do you do in Week 2 of the SI plan?
Audit your work week. Start or top up an emergency fund. Freeze your credit.
What do you do in Week 3 of the SI plan?
Build a 72-hour kit. Back up photos and documents. Pick one durable skill and book time for it.
What do you do in Week 4 of the SI plan?
Talk with your family about AI and fakes. Reach out to two people outside work. Review your plan and set the next 30 days.
How ready are you on Work and skills?
Use an AI assistant for one real task every day for a month, and write down what it got wrong.
How ready are you on Money and resilience?
Build an emergency fund that covers several months of costs, in a plain savings account.
How ready are you on Information and deepfakes?
Agree a family code word for urgent calls or voice notes asking for money.
How ready are you on Privacy and security?
Turn on two-factor sign-in (an app or passkey, not SMS) for email, bank and phone carrier.
How ready are you on Health, people and community?
Keep in-person friendships that do not run through a screen; they are the hardest thing to automate.
How ready are you on Civic voice?
Read one primary source on AI policy where you live, not a summary of it.
Search-shaped sibling: How do I AI-proof my job? · What belongs in a 72-hour prepper kit? · What AI breakthroughs has SIREN tracked?.