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Nick Bostrom - Wikipedia

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Background reference on one of the most influential figures in AI safety and existential risk; useful for understanding the intellectual origins of the field and key conceptual frameworks like superintelligence and orthogonality.

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Importance: 60/100wiki pagereference

Summary

Wikipedia biography of Nick Bostrom, Swedish philosopher at Oxford University known for foundational contributions to AI safety, existential risk, and transhumanism. He is best known for his book 'Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies' and for developing influential concepts like the simulation argument and the orthogonality thesis.

Key Points

  • Founded the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at Oxford, a leading AI safety and existential risk research center
  • Authored 'Superintelligence' (2014), a seminal text arguing advanced AI poses existential risks if not carefully aligned with human values
  • Developed the orthogonality thesis: any level of intelligence can be combined with any terminal goal, motivating alignment concerns
  • Pioneer of existential risk as an academic field, arguing humanity-ending scenarios deserve serious philosophical and policy attention
  • Known for the simulation argument and work on anthropic reasoning, reflecting broader interest in humanity's long-term future

Cited by 1 page

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Future of Humanity InstituteOrganization51.0

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Nick Bostrom - Wikipedia 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 
 
 
 
 
 
 Philosopher and writer (born 1973) 
 

 Nick Bostrom Bostrom in 2020 Born Niklas Boström 
 ( 1973-03-10 ) 10 March 1973 (age 53) 
 Helsingborg , Sweden Spouse Susan [ 2 ] Education Education University of Gothenburg ( BA )
 Stockholm University ( MA )
 King's College London ( MSc )
 London School of Economics ( PhD )
 Thesis Observational Selection Effects and Probability  (2000) Doctoral advisor Colin Howson 
 Craig Callender [ 1 ] Philosophical work Era Contemporary philosophy Region Western philosophy School Analytic philosophy [ 2 ] Institutions Yale University 
 University of Oxford 
 Future of Humanity Institute Main interests Philosophy of artificial intelligence 
 Bioethics Notable ideas Anthropic bias 
 Reversal test 
 Simulation hypothesis 
 Vulnerable world hypothesis 
 Existential risk studies 
 Singleton 
 Ancestor simulation 
 Information hazard 
Infinitarian paralysis [ 3 ] 
 Self-indication assumption 
 Self-sampling assumption 
 Website nickbostrom .com 
 Transhumanism 
 Issues 
 Accelerating change 

 Eradication of suffering 

 Fourth Industrial Revolution 

 Human enhancement 
 Genetic 

 Moral 

 Neuro- 

 Cognitive liberty 

 New eugenics 

 Eugenics 
 

 Human nature 

 Meliorism 

 Post-politics 

 Post-scarcity 
 
 
 
 People 
 Andrews 

 Bostrom 

 Church 

 Cordeiro 

 de Chardin 

 Drexler 

 Fahy 

 FM-2030 

 Freitas 

 Fyodorov 

 Fuller 

 de Garis 

 Gasson 

 Goertzel 

 de Grey 

 Haldane 

 Hanson 

 Harari 

 Harbisson 

 Harris 

 Huxley 

 Hughes 

 Istvan 

 Johnson 

 Kurzweil 

 Land 

 Moen 

 Moravec 

 More 

 Musk 

 Pearce 

 Rothblatt 

 Sandberg 

 Savulescu 

 Sorgner 

 Spencer 

 Stock 

 Stolyarov 

 Thiel 

 Vinge 

 Vita-More 

 Walker 

 Warwick 

 Wiener 

 Yudkowsky 
 
 
 
 Influential works 
 The Dialectic of Sex (1970) 

 Metaman (1993) 

 The Hedonistic Imperative (1995) 

 The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) 

 Citizen Cyborg (2004) 

 The Singularity Is Near (2005) 

 Human Enhancement (2009) 

 Fanged Noumena (2011) 

 The Transhumanist Wager (2013) 

 Sapiens (2014) 

 Homo Deus (2015) 

 The Transhumanist Bill of Rights (2015) 

 The Age of Em (2016) 

 The Precipice (2020) 

 What We Owe the Future (2022) 

 " Techno-Optimist Manifesto " (2023) 
 
 
 
 Variants 
 Accelerationism 
 Effective 
 

 Cypherpunk 

 Dataism 

 Extropianism 

 Immortalism 

 Longtermism 

 Postgenderism 

 Posthumanism 

 Russian Cosmism 

 Singularitarianism 

 Technogaianism 

 Technolibertarianism 

 Technological utopianism 

 Techno-progressivism 
 
 
 
 Related topics 
 Dyson sphere 

 Technologies
 Emerging 

 Disruptive 

 Hypothetical 
 
 
 
 v 
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 Nick Bostrom ( / ˈ b ɒ s t r əm / BOST -rəm ; Swedish : Niklas 

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