Nick Bostrom
Principal Researcher at the Macrostrategy Research Initiative
A philosopher whose book Superintelligence brought the risks of advanced AI into mainstream debate.
Biography
Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, whole brain emulation and the risks of superintelligence. Born in Helsingborg, Sweden, he earned a BA from the University of Gothenburg, an MA from Stockholm University, an MSc in computational neuroscience from King's College London and a PhD in philosophy from the London School of Economics in 2000.
In 2005 he founded the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, which researched the far future of human civilization until its shutdown in 2024. His books include Anthropic Bias (2002), Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) and Deep Utopia (2024). He defines superintelligence as an intellect that greatly exceeds human cognitive performance in virtually all domains and views it as a major source of both opportunity and existential risk. He is currently principal researcher at his own Macrostrategy Research Initiative.
Notable contributions
Founded the Future of Humanity Institute
Founded the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford in 2005; it researched the far future of human civilization until its shutdown in 2024.
Published Superintelligence
Wrote Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, a book on how machine intelligence might exceed human intelligence and the risks that could follow.
Proposed the Vulnerable World Hypothesis
Argued that some technologies might destroy human civilization by default when discovered, and proposed a framework for classifying and handling such vulnerabilities.