Nick Bostrom - Wikipedia

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Wikipedia·en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bostrom

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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

Page	Type	Quality
Future of Humanity Institute	Organization	51.0

4 FactBase facts citing this source

Entity	Property	Value	As Of
Nick Bostrom	Education	PhD in Philosophy, London School of Economics; MA in Philosophy and Physics, Stockholm University; MSc in Computational Neuroscience, King's College London	—
Nick Bostrom	Notable For	Author of 'Superintelligence'; founder of FHI at Oxford; pioneer of existential risk studies; influential philosopher on AI risk, simulation argument, and anthropic reasoning	—
Nick Bostrom	Employed By	sid_Zmw9nfUYWA	—
Nick Bostrom	Birth Year	1973	—

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# Nick Bostrom

Nick Bostrom

Philosopher and writer (born 1973)

| Nick Bostrom |
| --- |
| [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Prof_Nick_Bostrom_324-1.jpg/500px-Prof_Nick_Bostrom_324-1.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prof_Nick_Bostrom_324-1.jpg)<br>Bostrom in 2020 |
| Born | Niklas Boström<br> (1973-03-10) 10 March 1973 (age52)<br>[Helsingborg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsingborg "Helsingborg"), Sweden |
| Spouse | Susan[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bostrom#cite_note-newyorker-1) |
|  |
| Education |
| Education | - [University of Gothenburg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gothenburg "University of Gothenburg") ( [BA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts "Bachelor of Arts"))<br>- [Stockholm University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_University "Stockholm University") ( [MA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Arts "Master of Arts"))<br>- [King's College London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_College_London "King's College London") ( [MSc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSc "MSc"))<br>- [London School of Economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics "London School of Economics") ( [PhD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhD "PhD")) |
| [Thesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis "Thesis") | [_Observational Selection Effects and Probability_](http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2642/)(2000) |
| [Doctoral advisor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctoral_advisor "Doctoral advisor") | [Colin Howson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Howson "Colin Howson")<br>[Craig Callender](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Callender "Craig Callender")[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bostrom#cite_note-thesis-2) |
| Philosophical work |
| Era | [Contemporary philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_philosophy "Contemporary philosophy") |
| Region | [Western philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy "Western philosophy") |
| [School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_schools_of_philosophy "List of schools of philosophy") | [Analytic philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_philosophy "Analytic philosophy")[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bostrom#cite_note-newyorker-1) |
| Institutions | [Yale University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University "Yale University")<br>[University of Oxford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Cross_College,_Oxford "St Cross College, Oxford")<br>[Future of Humanity Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Humanity_Institute "Future of Humanity Institute") |
| Main interests | [Philosophy of artificial intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_artificial_intelligence "Philosophy of artificial intelligence")<br>[Bioethics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioethics "Bioethics") |
| Notable ideas | [Anthropic bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_bias "Anthropic bias")<br>[Reversal test](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversal_test "Re

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