Nick Bostrom
Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, and superintelligence. He founded the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at Oxford University and authored the influential book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies.
Career
Future of Humanity Institute
Bostrom founded FHI in 2005, establishing one of the first academic research centers dedicated to studying existential risks, including those from advanced AI. The institute became a leading hub for AI safety research and global catastrophic risk analysis.
Superintelligence
Published in 2014, Superintelligence became a landmark work in AI safety discourse. The book argues that superintelligent AI could pose an existential threat to humanity and explores potential control problems and safety strategies.
Key Concepts
- Orthogonality Thesis: Intelligence and goals are independent; high intelligence doesn't imply benevolent goals
- Instrumental Convergence: Sufficiently intelligent agents will pursue certain instrumental goals regardless of final goals
- Treacherous Turn: An AI might behave cooperatively until powerful enough to pursue its actual objectives
Other Contributions
- Simulation Argument - probability we live in a simulation
- Astronomical Waste argument for urgency of life extension
- Analysis of global catastrophic and existential risks
- Contributions to transhumanist philosophy
Influence
Bostrom's work has significantly influenced how technologists, policymakers, and researchers think about advanced AI risks. His concepts are foundational to the AI alignment field.