Suffering risks, or s-risks, are risks involving an astronomical amount of
suffering; much more than all of the suffering that has occurred on Earth thus far.[2][3] They are sometimes categorized as a subclass of
existential risks.[4]
Sources of possible s-risks include embodied
artificial intelligence[5] and
superintelligence,[6] as well as
space colonization, which could potentially lead to "constant and catastrophic wars"[7] and an immense increase in
wild animal suffering by introducing wild animals, who "generally lead short, miserable lives full of sometimes the most brutal suffering", to other planets, either intentionally or inadvertently.[8]