Radio Bostrom

AI Creation and the Cosmic Host (2024) Aug 08, 2024

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/ai-creation-and-the-cosmic-host.pdf

Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World (2024) Mar 18, 2024

Nick Bostrom’s latest book, Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World, will be published on 27th March, 2024. It’s available to pre-order now:
https://nickbostrom.com/deep-utopia/
The publisher describes the book as follows:
A greyhound catching the mechanical lure—what would he actually do with it? Has he given this any thought?
Bostrom’s previous book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies changed the global conversation on AI and became a New York Times bestseller. It focused on what might happen if AI development goes wrong. But what if things go right?
Suppose that we develop superintelligence safely, govern it well, and make good use of the cornucopian wealth and near magical technological powers that this technology can unlock. If this transition to the machine intelligence era goes well, human labor becomes obsolete. We would thus enter a condition of “post-instrumentality”, in which our efforts are not needed for any practical purpose. Furthermore, at technological maturity, human nature becomes entirely malleable.
Here we confront a challenge that is not technological but philosophical and spiritual. In such a solved world, what is the point of human existence? What gives meaning to life? What do we do all day?
Deep Utopia shines new light on these old questions, and gives us glimpses of a different kind of existence, which might be ours in the future.

The Unilateralist’s Curse and the Case for a Principle of Conformity (2016) Aug 27, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/unilateralist.pdf

In Defense of Posthuman Dignity (2005) Aug 26, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Positions on the ethics of human enhancement technologies can be (crudely) characterized as ranging from transhumanism to bioconservatism. Transhumanists believe that human enhancement technologies should be made widely available, that individuals should have broad discretion over which of these technologies to apply to themselves, and that parents should normally have the right to choose enhancements for their children-to-be. Bioconservatives (whose ranks include such diverse writers as Leon Kass, Francis Fukuyama, George Annas, Wesley Smith, Jeremy Rifkin, and Bill McKibben) are generally opposed to the use of technology to modify human nature. A central idea in bioconservativism is that human enhancement technologies will undermine our human dignity. To forestall a slide down the slippery slope towards an ultimately debased ‘posthuman’ state, bioconservatives often argue for broad bans on otherwise promising human enhancements. This paper distinguishes two common fears about the posthuman and argues for the importance of a concept of dignity that is inclusive enough to also apply to many possible posthuman beings. Recognizing the possibility of posthuman dignity undercuts an important objection against human enhancement and removes a distortive double standard from our field of moral vision.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/dignity
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:02) Introduction

(00:21) Abstract

(01:57) Transhumanists vs. bioconservatives

(06:42) Two fears about the posthuman

(19:44) Is human dignity incompatible with posthuman dignity?

(29:03) Why we need posthuman dignity

(34:38) Outro & credits

A Primer on the Doomsday Argument (1999) Aug 25, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Rarely does philosophy produce empirical predictions. The Doomsday argument is an important exception. From seemingly trivial premises it seeks to show that the risk that humankind will go extinct soon has been systematically underestimated. Nearly everybody's first reaction is that there must be something wrong with such an argument. Yet despite being subjected to intense scrutiny by a growing number of philosophers, no simple flaw in the argument has been identified.
Read the full paper:
https://anthropic-principle.com/q=anthropic_principle/doomsday_argument/
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

Propositions Concerning Digital Minds and Society (2022) Aug 24, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/propositions.pdf

Base Camp for Mount Ethics (2022) Aug 23, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/mountethics.pdf

The Transhumanist FAQ (2003) Aug 22, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/views/transhumanist.pdf

The Future of Human Evolution (2004) Aug 21, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Evolutionary development is sometimes thought of as exhibiting an inexorable trend towards higher, more complex, and normatively worthwhile forms of life. This paper explores some dystopian scenarios where freewheeling evolutionary developments, while continuing to produce complex and intelligent forms of organization, lead to the gradual elimination of all forms of being that we care about. We then consider how such catastrophic outcomes could be avoided and argue that under certain conditions the only possible remedy would be a globally coordinated policy to control human evolution by modifying the fitness function of future intelligent life forms.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:16) Abstract

(01:06) 1. The Panglossian view

(07:50) 2. Two dystopian "upward" evolutionary scenarios

(17:35) 3. Ours is an evolutionary disequilibrium

(24:55) 4. Costly signaling and flamboyant display?

(30:07) 5. Two senses of outcompeted

(32:31) 6. Could we control our own evolution?

(35:30) 7. Preventing non-eudaemonic agents from arising

(39:56) 8. Modifying the fitness function

(43:34) 9. Policies for evolutionary steering

(49:48) 10. Detour

(52:44) 11. Only a singleton could control evolution

(59:22) 12. Conclusion

Predictions from Philosophy? (1997) Aug 20, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper, boldly stated, is to propose a new type of philosophy, a philosophy whose aim is prediction. The pace of technological progress is increasing very rapidly: it looks as if we are witnessing an exponential growth, the growth-rate being proportional to the size already obtained, with scientific knowledge doubling every 10 to 20 years since the second world war, and with computer processor speed doubling every 18 months or so. It is argued that this technological development makes urgent many empirical questions which a philosopher could be well-suited to help answering. I try to cover a broad range of interesting problems and approaches, which means that I won't go at all deeply into any of them; I only try to say enough to show what some of the problems are, how one can begin to work with them, and why philosophy is relevant. My hope is that this will whet your appetite to deal with these questions, or at least increase general awareness that they worthy tasks for first-class intellects, including ones which might belong to philosophers.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/old/predict
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:19) Abstract

(01:52) 1. The Polymath

(08:41) 2. The Carter-Leslie Doomsday Argument and the Anthropic Principle

(15:28) 3. The Fermi Paradox

(43:49) 4. Superintelligence

(58:27) 5. Uploading, Cyberspace and Cosmology

(01:16:14) 6. Attractors and Values

(01:28:41) 7. Transhumanism

[French Translation] Letter from Utopia (2008) Aug 19, 2022

http://www.nickbostrom.com/translations/utopie.pdf

What is a Singleton? (2005) Aug 18, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
This note introduces the concept of a "singleton" and suggests that this concept is useful for formulating and analyzing possible scenarios for the future of humanity.

Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/fut/singleton
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:18) Abstract

(00:32) 1. Definition

(01:35) 2. Examples and Elaboration

(05:42) 3. Advantages with a Singleton

(08:02) 4. Disadvantages with a Singleton

(10:14) 5. The Singleton Hypothesis

Embryo Selection for Cognitive Enhancement: Curiosity or Game-changer? Aug 17, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/embryo.pdf

Letter from Utopia (2008) Aug 16, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
The good life: just how good could it be? A vision of the future from the future.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/utopia
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

Technological Revolutions: Ethics and Policy in the Dark (2006) Aug 15, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/revolutions.pdf

Human Enhancement Ethics: The State of the Debate (2008) Introduction Chapter. Aug 14, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/human-enhancement-ethics.pdf

How Vulnerable is the World? (2021) Aug 13, 2022

By Nick Bostrom and Matthew van der Merwe.
Abstract:
Sooner or later a technology capable of wiping out human civilisation might be invented. How far would we go to stop it?
Read the full paper:
https://aeon.co/essays/none-of-our-technologies-has-managed-to-destroy-humanity-yet
Links:
- The Vulnerable World Hypothesis (2019) (original academic paper)
- The Vulnerable World Hypothesis (2019) (narration by Radio Bostrom)
Notes:
This article is an adaption of Bostrom's academic paper "The Vulnerable World Hypothesis (2019)".
The article was first published in Aeon Magazine. The narration was provided by Curio. We are grateful to Aeon and Curio for granting us permission to re-use the audio. Curio are offering Radio Bostrom listeners a 25% discount on their annual subscription.

Crucial Considerations and Wise Philanthropy (2014) Aug 12, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Within a utilitarian context, one can perhaps try to explicate [crucial considerations] as follows: a crucial consideration is a consideration that radically changes the expected value of pursuing some high-level subgoal. The idea here is that you have some evaluation standard that is fixed, and you form some overall plan to achieve some high-level subgoal. This is your idea of how to maximize this evaluation standard. A crucial consideration, then, would be a consideration that radically changes the expected value of achieving this subgoal, and we will see some examples of this. Now if you stop limiting your view to some utilitarian context, then you might want to retreat to these earlier more informal formulations, because one of the things that could be questioned is utilitarianism itself. But for most of this talk we will be thinking about that component.
Read the full paper:
https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/crucial-considerations-and-wise-philanthropy-nick-bostrom
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:14) What is a crucial consideration?

(04:27) Should I vote in the national election?

(08:18) Should we favor more funding for x-risk tech research?

(14:32) Crucial considerations and utilitarianism

(18:52) Evaluation Functions

(19:03) Some tentative signposts

(20:35) (Text resumes)

(27:28) Possible areas with additional crucial considerations

(30:03) Some partial remedies

Astronomical Waste: The Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development (2003) Aug 11, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
With very advanced technology, a very large population of people living happy lives could be sustained in the accessible region of the universe. For every year that development of such technologies and colonization of the universe is delayed, there is therefore an opportunity cost: a potential good, lives worth living, is not being realized. Given some plausible assumptions, this cost is extremely large. However, the lesson for utilitarians is not that we ought to maximize the pace of technological development, but rather that we ought to maximize its safety, i.e. the probability that colonization will eventually occur.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

10. Are You Living In A Computer Simulation? (2003) Aug 10, 2022

https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2011) Aug 09, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/artificial-intelligence.pdf

Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge (2011) Aug 08, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/information-hazards.pdf

The Evolutionary Optimality Challenge (2021) Aug 07, 2022

http://www.nickbostrom.com/evolution.pdf

Where Are They? Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing (2008) Aug 06, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf

The Reversal Test: Eliminating Status Quo Bias in Applied Ethics (2006) Aug 05, 2022

https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/statusquo.pdf

Existential Risk Prevention as Global Priority (2012) Aug 04, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Existential risks are those that threaten the entire future of humanity. Many theories of value imply that even relatively small reductions in net existential risk have enormous expected value. Despite their importance, issues surrounding human-extinction risks and related hazards remain poorly understood. In this paper, I clarify the concept of existential risk and develop an improved classification scheme. I discuss the relation between existential risks and basic issues in axiology, and show how existential risk reduction (via the maxipok rule) can serve as a strongly action-guiding principle for utilitarian concerns. I also show how the notion of existential risk suggests a new way of thinking about the ideal of sustainability.
Read the full paper:
https://existential-risk.org/concept
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/

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Outline:

(00:15) Abstract

(01:10) Policy Implications

(02:43) The maxipok rule

(10:45) Qualitative risk categories

(17:00) Magnitude of expected loss in existential catastrophe

(26:48) Maxipok

(29:13) Classification of existential risk

(31:19) Human extinction

(34:18) Permanent stagnation

(42:00) Flawed realisation

(45:37) Subsequent ruination

(48:44) Capability and value

(54:16) Some other ethical perspectives

(01:01:57) Existential risk and normative uncertainty

(01:06:07) Keeping our options alive

(01:14:38) Outlook

(01:15:15) Barriers to thought and action

(01:24:36) Grounds for optimism

(01:31:40) Author Information

The Fable of The Dragon Tyrant (2005) Aug 03, 2022

By Nick Bostrom.
Abstract:
Recounts the Tale of a most vicious Dragon that ate thousands of people every day, and of the actions that the King, the People, and an assembly of Dragonologists took with respect thereto.
Read the full paper:
https://nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon
More episodes at:
https://radiobostrom.com/