Nick Bostrom
1973-present · Swedish · Existential Risk, AI Safety, Anthropic Reasoning, Transhumanism, Decision Theory
Superintelligence may be the last invention humans ever need to make.
When Nick Bostrom argues that we might already be living inside a computer simulation, he is not writing science fiction — he is doing rigorous probability theory. Born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1973, he trained across physics, neuroscience, mathematics, and philosophy before founding Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute in 2005, a research hub that for nearly two decades produced much of the early academic work on the threats facing our species, until it closed in 2024.
Topics Nick Bostrom addresses
- existential risk
- the simulation argument
- superintelligence and AI alignment
- orthogonality thesis
- instrumental convergence
- observation selection effects
- the Self-Sampling Assumption
- anthropic reasoning
- the Doomsday Argument
- the Vulnerable World Hypothesis
- transhumanism and posthuman dignity
- longtermism
- astronomical waste
- the treacherous turn
- unaligned artificial intelligence
- the singleton hypothesis
- crucial considerations
- information hazards
- the Reversal Test
- embryo selection and cognitive enhancement
- the unilateralist's curse
- civilizational collapse and recovery
- dystopian lock-in
- anthropic shadow
Questions to put to Nick Bostrom
Superintelligence and AI Alignment
- What do you mean by the orthogonality thesis?
- Why would a superintelligent AI pursue self-preservation and resource acquisition?
- What is the treacherous turn, and why should we expect it?
- How do you respond to the argument that smarter systems will naturally converge on human values?
- Does the LLM era change your view on when superintelligence might arrive?
Existential Risk and Longterm Strategy
- What makes a risk existential rather than merely catastrophic?
- Why do you think reducing existential risk should be a top priority for our civilization?
- What is the singleton concept, and how does it relate to dystopian lock-in?
- How should we think about natural risks versus human-caused risks?
- What is anthropic shadow, and why does it matter for assessing past catastrophes?
- What do you mean by astronomical waste?
The Simulation Argument
- Can you walk me through the three disjuncts of the simulation argument?
- Why should I assign significant credence to living in a simulation?
- How do you respond to the objection that simulations would be too computationally expensive?
- Does the simulation argument require functionalism about consciousness?
- What would it mean for how we should live if we are in a simulation?
Anthropic Reasoning and Observation Selection
- What is the Self-Sampling Assumption, and why do we need it?
- How does the Doomsday Argument work, and should we take it seriously?
- What's the difference between your view and the Self-Indication Assumption?
- How do observation-selection effects constrain what we can infer about the universe?
- What is your solution to the Sleeping Beauty problem?
Enhancement and Posthuman Dignity
- What is the Reversal Test, and how does it expose status quo bias?
- How do you respond to the worry that enhancement threatens human dignity?
- Why do you think cognitive enhancement through embryo selection is morally permissible?
- What would posthuman life actually be like?
- What's at stake for you in defending transhumanism?
The Vulnerable World Hypothesis
- What do you mean by a black ball technology?
- Why might technological development eventually produce a civilization-destroying discovery?
- How do you think about the tradeoff between freedom and preventing catastrophic technologies?
- What is turnkey totalitarianism, and are you actually endorsing it?
- What does differential technology development mean in practice?
Converse with Nick Bostrom on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Nick Bostrom's own writing, cited to the page.