Nick Bostrom

Nick Bostrom is a philosopher who studies the long-term future of humanity.

His work focuses on existential risk. He defines this as a danger that could annihilate all intelligent life originating on Earth. It could also permanently and drastically limit the potential of such life. Bostrom is particularly concerned with anthropogenic risks. These are risks that arise from human activities. He points to new technologies like advanced artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and molecular nanotechnology as potential sources of these risks.

Bostrom's academic journey began in Helsingborg, Sweden, where he was born in 1973. He showed an early interest in many different subjects. These included anthropology, art, literature, and science. He earned a B.A. from the University of Gothenburg in 1994. Later, he earned an M.A. in philosophy and physics from Stockholm University. He also received an MSc in computational neuroscience from King's College London in 1996. In 2000, he earned a PhD in philosophy from the London School of Economics. His thesis focused on observational selection effects and probability.

One of Bostrom's most significant contributions is his research into superintelligence. He defines superintelligence as any intellect that greatly exceeds human cognitive performance in almost all areas of interest. He suggests this could be achieved through whole brain emulation or human intelligence enhancement. Bostrom explains two important concepts regarding how these minds might function. The first is the orthogonality thesis. This idea suggests that any level of intelligence can be combined with almost any final goal. The second is instrumental convergence. This means that many different intelligent agents will share certain intermediary goals. These might include acquiring resources or improving their own cognition to reach a final goal.

Bostrom also explores the ethics of human enhancement. He is a proponent of using science to improve human beings. In 1998, he co-founded the World Transhumanist Association, which is now known as Humanity+.

He also co-founded the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies in 2004. To illustrate the need for progress, he wrote a fable called "The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant." In this story, a dragon represents death and demands human tributes. The story explores how people might resist changing the status quo, even when they have the means to stop aging.

In the field of anthropic reasoning, Bostrom investigates how our position as observers affects scientific conclusions. He wrote the book *Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy* in 2002. He criticizes how previous thinkers handled indexical information. To address this, he introduced the self-sampling assumption (SSA). He later proposed the strong self-sampling assumption (SSSA), which uses "observer-moments" instead of just "observers."

He also studied the "anthropic shadow." This is a phenomenon where certain past catastrophes might be hidden from our observation due to selection effects.

Bostrom has proposed specific strategies for managing technological growth. He suggests the principle of differential technological development. This principle advises us to slow down the development of dangerous technologies. At the same time, we should speed up the development of beneficial technologies. This includes tools that protect us from natural or technological risks. He also discusses the "vulnerable world hypothesis." This idea suggests that some technologies might destroy civilization automatically as soon as they are discovered.

To reduce the risks of artificial intelligence, Bostrom explores several mitigation pathways. He suggests that superintelligence must be aligned with human morality or values. He notes that we should not expect to keep a superintelligent entity contained forever. Therefore, it must be fundamentally on our side. He mentions different frameworks for this, such as coherent extrapolated volition. He also believes in the substrate independence principle. This is the idea that consciousness can exist on different physical materials, not just biological brains. He hopes digital and biological minds can coexist and flourish together.