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55-494: Humanity+, Inc. originated as an organization under the name World Transhumanist Association. In 1998, the World Transhumanist Association (WTA) was founded by Nick Bostrom and David Pearce . In 2002, it was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. WTA began working toward the recognition of transhumanism as a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry and public policy , and to add to

110-542: A New York Times Best Seller . The book argues that superintelligence is possible and explores different types of superintelligences, their cognition, the associated risks. He also presents technical and strategic considerations on how to make it safe. Bostrom explores multiple possible paths to superintelligence, including whole brain emulation and human intelligence enhancement, but focuses on artificial general intelligence , explaining that electronic devices have many advantages over biological brains. Bostrom draws

165-686: A British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford from 2002 to 2005. Bostrom's research concerns the future of humanity and long-term outcomes. He discusses existential risk , which he defines as one in which an "adverse outcome would either annihilate Earth-originating intelligent life or permanently and drastically curtail its potential". Bostrom is mostly concerned about anthropogenic risks, which are risks arising from human activities, particularly from new technologies such as advanced artificial intelligence, molecular nanotechnology , or synthetic biology . In 2005, Bostrom founded

220-513: A Hochschule , which is the generic term in Germany for all institutions awarding academic degrees. Fachhochschule is often translated as "University of Applied Sciences". Universitäten place greater emphasis on fundamental science and background in theory, while Fachhochschulen are generally designed with a focus on teaching professional skills. Degrees earned at Universitäten and Fachhochschulen are legally equivalent. In Germany,

275-714: A 1996 listserv email he sent as a postgrad where he had stated that he thought "Blacks are more stupid than whites", and where he also used the word " niggers " in a description of how he thought this statement might be perceived by others. The apology, posted on his website, stated that "the invocation of a racial slur was repulsive" and that he "completely repudiate[d] this disgusting email". The email has been described as "racist" in several news sources. According to Andrew Anthony of The Guardian , "The apology did little to placate Bostrom’s critics, not least because he conspicuously failed to withdraw his central contention regarding race and intelligence , and seemed to make

330-456: A BA or BSc degree. However, some older or ancient universities , such as Oxford , Cambridge , and Trinity College Dublin traditionally award BAs to undergraduates having completed the final examinations, e.g., Part II Tripos (Cambridge), Final Honour Schools (Oxford), Moderator-ship (Dublin), in most subjects including the sciences. Some new plate glass universities established in the 1960s, such as York and Lancaster , originally followed

385-469: A Solved World (2024). Bostrom believes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) may lead to superintelligence , which he defines as "any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest". He views this as a major source of opportunities and existential risks. Born as Niklas Boström in 1973 in Helsingborg , Sweden, he disliked school at

440-486: A distinction between final goals and instrumental goals . A final goal is what an agent tries to achieve for its own intrinsic value. Instrumental goals are just intermediary steps towards final goals. Bostrom contends there are instrumental goals that will be shared by most sufficiently intelligent agents because they are generally useful to achieve any objective (e.g. preserving the agent's own existence or current goals, acquiring resources, improving its cognition...), this

495-486: A dragon that demands a tribute of thousands of people every day. The story explores how status quo bias and learned helplessness can prevent people from taking action to defeat aging even when the means to do so are at their disposal. YouTuber CGP Grey created an animated version of the story. With philosopher Toby Ord , he proposed the reversal test in 2006. Given humans' irrational status quo bias, how can one distinguish between valid criticisms of proposed changes in

550-534: A human trait and criticisms merely motivated by resistance to change? The reversal test attempts to do this by asking whether it would be a good thing if the trait was altered in the opposite direction. Bostrom's work also considers potential dysgenic effects in human populations but he thinks genetic engineering can provide a solution and that "In any case, the time-scale for human natural genetic evolution seems much too grand for such developments to have any significant effect before other developments will have made

605-416: A longer time period. This is due to factors such as the student's ability, motivation, and access to financial assistance to earn the degree. Just like other baccalaureate degrees, a Bachelor of Arts is historically offered only at public and private universities and colleges. A Bachelor of Arts, just like other bachelor's degrees, is an admission requirement for graduate and professional school. Beginning in

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660-729: A master's degree. Along with the Bachelor of Science (B.S.), the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is the most commonly granted degree in the US. A B.A. degree is earned after the completion of four years of undergraduate college level study. The Bachelor of Science is abbreviated with periods i.e., B.S., and the Bachelor of Arts is abbreviated as B.A. Most US colleges and universities offer undergraduate programs. In colleges and universities in Australia, Nepal, New Zealand, India and South Africa,

715-598: A messy corpus of ideas that emerged at the margins of academic thought." In his 2024 book, Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World , Bostrom explores the concept of an ideal life, if humanity transitions successfully into a post-superintelligence world. Bostrom notes that the question is "not how interesting a future is to look at, but how good it is to live in." He outlines some technologies that he considers physically possible in theory and available at technological maturity, such as cognitive enhancement , reversal of aging , arbitrary sensory inputs (taste, sound...), or

770-496: A mutually beneficial way where all of these different forms can flourish and thrive". Bostrom has published numerous articles on anthropic reasoning , as well as the book Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy . In the book, he criticizes previous formulations of the anthropic principle, including those of Brandon Carter , John Leslie , John Barrow , and Frank Tipler . Bostrom believes that

825-726: A partial defence of eugenics ." Shortly afterward, Oxford University condemned the language used in the email and started an investigation. The investigation concluded on 10 August 2023: "[W]e do not consider you to be a racist or that you hold racist views, and we consider that the apology you posted in January 2023 was sincere." Bostrom met his wife Susan in 2002. As of 2015, she lived in Montreal and Bostrom in Oxford. They have one son. Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A. , BA , A.B. or AB ; from

880-460: A superintelligence could be catastrophic: Suppose we give an A.I. the goal to make humans smile. When the A.I. is weak, it performs useful or amusing actions that cause its user to smile. When the A.I. becomes superintelligent, it realizes that there is a more effective way to achieve this goal: take control of the world and stick electrodes into the facial muscles of humans to cause constant, beaming grins. Bostrom explores several pathways to reduce

935-492: A superintelligence. Such a superintelligence could have vastly superior capabilities, notably in strategizing, social manipulation, hacking or economic productivity. With such capabilities, a superintelligence could outwit humans and take over the world, establishing a singleton (which is "a world order in which there is at the global level a single decision-making agency" ) and optimizing the world according to its final goals. Bostrom argues that giving simplistic final goals to

990-420: A superintelligent genie locked up in its bottle forever. Sooner or later, it will out". He thus suggests that in order to be safe for humanity, superintelligence must be aligned with morality or human values so that it is "fundamentally on our side". Potential AI normativity frameworks include Yudkowsky 's coherent extrapolated volition (human values improved via extrapolation), moral rightness (doing what

1045-400: A third class honours degree (for example, BA with distinction, merit or pass). A Bachelor of Arts is entitled to the post-nominal letters BA for an ordinary or pass degree and BA (Hons) for an honours degree. (However, graduates entitled to use the "Hons" post-nominal very rarely do so in practice.) The academic dress worn by honours and non-honours graduates is identical. An honours degree

1100-487: A young age and spent his last year of high school learning from home. He was interested in a wide variety of academic areas, including anthropology, art, literature, and science. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Gothenburg in 1994. He then earned an M.A. degree in philosophy and physics from Stockholm University and an MSc degree in computational neuroscience from King's College London in 1996. During his time at Stockholm University, he researched

1155-675: Is a philosopher known for his work on existential risk , the anthropic principle , human enhancement ethics, whole brain emulation , superintelligence risks , and the reversal test . He was the founding director of the now dissolved Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford and is now Principal Researcher at the Macrostrategy Research Initiative. Bostrom is the author of Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy (2002), Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) and Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in

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1210-707: Is affected by paradoxes or counterintuitive implications in certain thought experiments. He suggests that a way forward may involve extending SSA into the Strong Self-Sampling Assumption (SSSA), which replaces "observers" in the SSA definition with "observer-moments". In later work, he proposed with Milan M. Ćirković and Anders Sandberg the phenomenon of anthropic shadow , an observation selection effect that prevents observers from observing certain kinds of catastrophes in their recent geological and evolutionary past. They suggest that events that lie in

1265-431: Is always awarded in one of four classes, depending upon the marks gained in the final assessments and examinations. The top students are awarded a first-class degree, followed by an upper second-class degree (usually referred to as a 2:1), a lower second-class degree (usually referred to as a 2:2), and those who pass with the lowest marks gain a third-class degree. An ordinary, pass or unclassified degree (which does not give

1320-670: Is always developing, improving human health in addition to curing diseases and wounds . Although there are no intrinsic problems with trying to get better, there are ethical issues to consider. Promoting health and responsible technology use are top priorities for Humanity+. Members practice mental health techniques like meditation , wellness diets, and physical activity. They also stress self-responsibility, empathy , and charity and take part in initiatives like Quantified Self. Nick Bostrom Nick Bostrom ( / ˈ b ɒ s t r əm / BOST -rəm ; Swedish : Niklas Boström [ˈnɪ̌kːlas ˈbûːstrœm] ; born 10 March 1973)

1375-446: Is an undergraduate postsecondary degree that puts a focus on liberal arts and studies. In comparison, a Bachelor of Science (BS) has a greater focus on science, math, and engineering. The Bachelor of Arts degree is a type of baccalaureate degree . A Bachelor of Arts degree is usually completed in four years: that is, it requires four years of full-time coursework during term time. However, just as with other degrees, some may require

1430-445: Is morally right), and moral permissibility (following humanity's coherent extrapolated volition except when it's morally impermissible). Bostrom warns that an existential catastrophe can also occur from AI being misused by humans for destructive purposes, or from humans failing to take into account the potential moral status of digital minds. Despite these risks, he says that machine superintelligence seems involved at some point in "all

1485-409: Is the concept of instrumental convergence . On the other side, he writes that virtually any level of intelligence can in theory be combined with virtually any final goal (even absurd final goals, e.g. making paperclips ), a concept he calls the orthogonality thesis . He argues that an AI with the ability to improve itself might initiate an intelligence explosion , resulting (potentially rapidly) in

1540-434: Is too far away for the risk to be significant. Yann LeCun considers that there is no existential risk, asserting that superintelligent AI will have no desire for self-preservation and that experts can be trusted to make it safe. Raffi Khatchadourian wrote that Bostrom's book on superintelligence "is not intended as a treatise of deep originality; Bostrom's contribution is to impose the rigors of analytic philosophy on

1595-504: The Fermi paradox . In a paper called "The Vulnerable World Hypothesis", Bostrom suggests that there may be some technologies that destroy human civilization by default when discovered. Bostrom proposes a framework for classifying and dealing with these vulnerabilities. He also gives counterfactual thought experiments of how such vulnerabilities could have historically occurred, e.g. if nuclear weapons had been easier to develop or had ignited

1650-626: The Future of Humanity Institute which, until its shutdown in 2024, researched the far future of human civilization. He is also an adviser to the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk . In the 2008 essay collection, Global Catastrophic Risks , editors Bostrom and Milan M. Ćirković characterize the relationship between existential risk and the broader class of global catastrophic risks, and link existential risk to observer selection effects and

1705-450: The Latin baccalaureus artium , baccalaureus in artibus , or artium baccalaureus ) is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts , or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years, depending on the country and institution. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree

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1760-712: The World's Top Thinkers . Bostrom has provided policy advice and consulted for many governments and organizations. He gave evidence to the House of Lords , Select Committee on Digital Skills. He is an advisory board member for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute , Future of Life Institute , and an external advisor for the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk . In January 2023, Bostrom issued an apology for

1815-483: The existential risk from AI . He emphasizes the importance of international collaboration, notably to reduce race to the bottom and AI arms race dynamics. He suggests potential techniques to help control AI, including containment, stunting AI capabilities or knowledge, narrowing the operating context (e.g. to question-answering), or "tripwires" (diagnostic mechanisms that can lead to a shutdown). But Bostrom contends that "we should not be confident in our ability to keep

1870-790: The 1990s, junior colleges started to confer their own baccalaureate degrees. In addition to the standard BA degrees, there are career-specific Bachelor of Arts degrees, including Bachelor of Arts in Functional English , Bachelor of Arts in Administration , Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies , and Regents Bachelor of Arts . The Bachelor of Arts degree has been prominent in academics for centuries. It influenced universities to begin focusing on broad topics such as algebra , psychology , biology , art , history , and philosophy . This aspect of

1925-557: The BA course normally lasts between three and three and a half years—six or seven semesters—and the degree is awarded after the student earns between 180 and 210 ECTS . In the Netherlands, the BA and Master of Arts (MA) degrees were introduced in 2002. Until then, a single program led to the doctorandus degree (abbreviated drs.), which comprised the same course load as the bachelor's and master's programs combined. The title doctorandus

1980-399: The BA degree can be taken over three years of full-time study. Students must pursue at least one major area of study and units from that subject are usually studied in each year, though sometimes students may choose to complete upper-level classes in the same year and as a result, can leave space for elective subjects from a different field. At some universities, students may choose to pursue

2035-530: The BA degree has been consistent in its history. The Bachelor of Arts degree was formed out of the study of liberal arts . Liberal art is a term that was applied to the study of many branches of learning such as grammar , logic , rhetoric , arithmetic , geometry , astronomy , and music . The study of liberal arts started during the Middle Ages . During the Renaissance , the term liberal art

2090-795: The World Transhumanist Association (which has since changed its name to Humanity+ ). In 2004, he co-founded (with James Hughes ) the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies , although he is no longer involved with either of these organisations. In 2005, Bostrom published the short story " The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant " in the Journal of Medical Ethics . A shorter version was published in 2012 in Philosophy Now . The fable personifies death as

2145-689: The academic presence already created by Extropy Institute in the fields of computer science, AI, nanotechnology, and philosophy. At its inception, WTA officials considered that social forces could undermine their futurist visions and needed to be addressed. A particular concern is the equal access to human enhancement technologies across classes and borders. To increase longevity and boost physiological processes, this also involves targeted improvements and therapeutic interventions. Cochlear implants and genetic engineering are two examples of medical innovations, as are wearable technology like smart phones. In opposition to anthropocentric hegemony and in favor of

2200-460: The anthropic shadow are likely to be underestimated unless statistical corrections are made. Bostrom's simulation argument posits that at least one of the following statements is very likely to be true: Bostrom is favorably disposed toward "human enhancement", or "self-improvement and human perfectibility through the ethical application of science", as well as a critic of bio-conservative views. In 1998, Bostrom co-founded (with David Pearce )

2255-498: The appropriate application of technology to maximize human potential, Humanity+ encourages knowledge of and respect for the diversity of life forms on Earth. In 2006, William Saletan reported a political struggle within World Transhumanist Association that erupted in 2004 largely between the libertarian right and the liberal left resulting in a centre-leftward positioning that continued to polarize politics under its former executive director James Hughes . The field of medicine

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2310-694: The atmosphere (as Robert Oppenheimer had feared). Bostrom supports the substrate independence principle, the idea that consciousness can emerge on various types of physical substrates, not only in "carbon-based biological neural networks" like the human brain. He considers that " sentience is a matter of degree" and that digital minds can in theory be engineered to have a much higher rate and intensity of subjective experience than humans, using less resources. Such highly sentient machines, which he calls "super-beneficiaries", would be extremely efficient at achieving happiness. He recommends finding "paths that will enable digital minds and biological minds to coexist, in

2365-638: The development of beneficial technologies, particularly those that protect against the existential risks posed by nature or by other technologies. In 2011, Bostrom founded the Oxford Martin Program on the Impacts of Future Technology. Bostrom's theory of the unilateralist's curse has been cited as a reason for the scientific community to avoid controversial dangerous research such as reanimating pathogens. In 2014, Bostrom published Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies , which became

2420-594: The final secondary school exams in France and Spain (and of the International Baccalaureate ) come from this: le Baccalauréat and el Bachillerato , respectively. The ancient universities of Scotland award a Master of Arts degree to humanities or arts graduates, but a BSc to science graduates. This course takes four years for an honours degree and three for an ordinary. In Scotland, one can opt to take an ordinary degree, which ranks below

2475-458: The graduate the right to add '(Hons)') may be awarded if a student has completed (i) followed a non-honours program, or (b) attempted an honours course but marginally failed to achieve third-class standard. Education in Canada is controlled by the provinces and can be very different depending on the province. While all Canadian universities offer four-year degrees, it is not uncommon, depending on

2530-425: The issue moot". Bostrom has suggested that technology policy aimed at reducing existential risk should seek to influence the order in which various technological capabilities are attained, proposing the principle of differential technological development . This principle states that we ought to retard the development of dangerous technologies, particularly ones that raise the level of existential risk, and accelerate

2585-548: The master's degree (post-nominal letters) in accordance with the new standard. When attaining a master level/graduate degree, it is still customary to use either drs. pre-nominally or MA/MSc post-nominally at the discretion of the holder. In the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) and Ireland, the first degree course normally lasts three years, but nomenclature varies: 19th-century and later universities usually distinguish between arts and sciences subjects by awarding either

2640-577: The mishandling of indexical information is a common flaw in many areas of inquiry (including cosmology, philosophy, evolution theory, game theory, and quantum physics). He argues that an anthropic theory is needed to deal with these. He introduces the Self-Sampling Assumption (SSA) and the Self-Indication Assumption (SIA), shows how they lead to different conclusions in a number of cases, and identifies how each

2695-553: The plausible paths to a really great future". The book became a New York Times Best Seller and received positive feedback from personalities such as Stephen Hawking , Bill Gates , Elon Musk , Peter Singer and Derek Parfit . It was praised for offering clear and compelling arguments on a neglected yet important topic. It was sometimes criticized for spreading pessimism about the potential of AI, or for focusing on longterm and speculative risks. Some skeptics such as Daniel Dennett or Oren Etzioni contended that superintelligence

2750-446: The practice of Oxford and Cambridge by awarding BAs in all subjects, but have since changed to awarding BSc degrees in science subjects. At Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin the degree of MA can be claimed, usually twenty-one terms after matriculation , without any further study. For many centuries, the bachelor's degree was an intermediate step and was awarded for much of the work carried out in later times at secondary schools. The names of

2805-532: The precise control of motivation, mood, well-being and personality. According to him, not only machines would be better than humans at working, but they would also undermine the purpose of many leisure activities, providing extreme welfare while challenging the quest for meaning. Bostrom was named in Foreign Policy ' s 2009 list of top global thinkers "for accepting no limits on human potential." Prospect Magazine listed Bostrom in their 2014 list of

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2860-404: The province and the university for a three-year general degree to also be offered as an option. In many universities and colleges, Bachelor of Arts degrees are differentiated either as BA or as honours BA degrees. Honours programs require more education than non-honours programs, typically a specialization beyond the requirements of a BA, and can often be used as a gateway to a PhD program, bypassing

2915-463: The relationship between language and reality by studying the analytic philosopher W. V. Quine . He also did some turns on London's stand-up comedy circuit. In 2000, he was awarded a PhD degree in philosophy from the London School of Economics . His thesis was titled Observational selection effects and probability . He held a teaching position at Yale University from 2000 to 2002, and was

2970-505: Was meant to describe general studies more broadly. This definition of liberal studies remains to this day. In Japan and the United States, Bachelor of Arts degrees were historically given only by public or private institutions and colleges. In Germany, university-level education usually happens in either a Universität (plural: Universitäten ) or a Fachhochschule (plural: Fachhochschulen ); both can be referred to as

3025-437: Was used in almost all fields of study; other titles were used for legal studies ( meester , Dutch for master, abbreviated Mr. ) and engineering ( ingenieur , abbreviated Ir. for academic masters level or ING. for higher vocational bachelor's level). Those who had already started the doctorandus program could, on completing it, opt for the doctorandus degree (entitling them to use "drs." in front of their name) or could use

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