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Nick Bostrom
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Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

by Nick Bostrom (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,485 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
See all formats and editions
The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. Other animals have stronger muscles or sharper claws, but we have cleverer brains.

If machine brains one day come to surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become very powerful. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on us humans than on the gorillas themselves, so the fate of our species then would come to depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.

But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed AI or otherwise to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?

To get closer to an answer to this question, we must make our way through a fascinating landscape of topics and considerations. Read the book and learn about oracles, genies, singletons; about boxing methods, tripwires, and mind crime; about humanity's cosmic endowment and differential technological development; indirect normativity, instrumental convergence, whole brain emulation and technology couplings; Malthusian economics and dystopian evolution; artificial intelligence, and biological
cognitive enhancement, and collective intelligence.

This profoundly ambitious and original book picks its way carefully through a vast tract of forbiddingly difficult intellectual terrain. Yet the writing is so lucid that it somehow makes it all seem easy. After an utterly engrossing journey that takes us to the frontiers of thinking about the human condition and the future of intelligent life, we find in Nick Bostrom's work nothing less than a reconceptualization of the essential task of our time.
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  1. Edition
    Reprint
  2. Publisher
    OUP Oxford
  3. Publication date
    July 2, 2014
  4. Language
    English
  5. File size
    2707 KB
  6. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Nick Bostrom's excellent book "Superintelligence" is the best thing I've seen on this topic. It is well worth a read." - Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator and Co-Chairman of OpenAI

About the Author

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish-born philosopher and polymath with a background in theoretical physics, computational neuroscience, logic, and artificial intelligence, as well as philosophy. He is a Professor at Oxford University, where he leads the Future of Humanity Institute as its founding director. (The FHI is a multidisciplinary university research center; it is also home to the Center for the Governance of Artificial Intelligence and to teams working on AI safety, biosecurity, macrostrategy, and various other technology or foundational questions.) He is the author of some 200 publications, including Anthropic Bias(2002), Global Catastrophic Risks (2008), Human Enhancement (2009), and Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014), a New York Times bestseller which helped spark a global conversation about artificial intelligence. Bostrom's widely influential work, which traverses philosophy, science, ethics, and technology, has illuminated the links between our present actions and long-term global outcomes, thereby casting a new light on the human condition.

He is recipient of a Eugene R. Gannon Award, and has been listed on Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers list twice. He was included on Prospect's World Thinkers list, the youngest person in the top 15. His writings have been translated into 28 languages, and there have been more than 100 translations and reprints of his works. He is a repeat TED speaker and has done more than 2,000 interviews with television, radio, and print media. As a graduate student he dabbled in stand-up comedy on the London circuit, but he has since reconnected with the doom and gloom of his Swedish roots.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LOOCGB2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ OUP Oxford; Reprint edition (July 2, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 2, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2707 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 431 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,485 ratings

About the author

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Nick Bostrom

Nick Bostrom

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NICK BOSTROM is a Professor at Oxford University, where he is the founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute. Bostrom is the world’s most cited philosopher aged 50 or under. He is the author of more than 200 publications, including Anthropic Bias (2002), Global Catastrophic Risks (2008), Human Enhancement (2009), and Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014), a New York Times bestseller which sparked the global conversation about the future of AI. His work has pioneered many of the ideas that frame current thinking about humanity’s future (such as the concept of an existential risk, the simulation argument, the vulnerable world hypothesis, astronomical waste, the unilateralist’s curse, etc.), while some of his recent work concerns the moral status of digital minds. His writings have been translated into more than 30 languages; he is a repeat main-stage TED speaker; and he has been interviewed more than 1,000 times by media outlets around the world. He has been on Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers list twice and was included in Prospect’s World Thinkers list, the youngest person in the top 15. He has an academic background in theoretical physics, AI, and computational neuroscience as well as philosophy.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4,485 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book thought-provoking, interesting, and compelling. They describe the subject as frightening, disturbing, and alarmist. However, some readers find the pacing boring, tiresome, and repetitive. They also say the content is thick in speculations and indulgent. Opinions are mixed on readability, with some finding it thorough and informative, while others find the prose dull and difficult.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Thought provokingScariness levelReadabilityLogical contentPacingSpeculative content
201 customers mention "Thought provoking"197 positive4 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, interesting, and informative. They say it's an original contribution to a topic and the content is great. Readers also mention the discussion is interesting and provocative.

"...book is not for beginners on the topic, but easily serves as a comprehensive introduction to AI and Superintelligence, paradoxically...." Read more

"...This is a book which is important and timely. We must seriously consider and weigh the potential for harm as well as good before creating a monster...." Read more

"...Still, I think that this book is exceptional for its philosophical treatment of this issue...." Read more

"...This is a thought-provoking book. It raises issues that I never even would have thought of had the author not pointed them out...." Read more

18 customers mention "Scariness level"13 positive5 negative

Customers find the book frightening, disturbing, and thought-provoking. They say it's not alarmist.

"...Some of the scenarios described are frightening (in fact most) and the arguments for the several potential paths AI development can take are cogent..." Read more

"...Book, essays and topic are very timely, scary and worth your time." Read more

"A thought provoking book but I feel the author is overly pessimistic, overlooks some key concepts, and seems pretty inhumane in his own thinking...." Read more

"...This is a scary but very plausible read. People who think the fictional Skynet could never happen for real, you owe it for yourself to read this...." Read more

189 customers mention "Readability"94 positive95 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some mention it's thorough, informative, and comprehensive. Others say the prose is dull and difficult to read.

"...Expect incredibly precise language, but intuitive explanations and concepts that will absolutely expand your mind...." Read more

"...While the hardcover is only 260 pages, it is very dense and can become a slow read if you are trying to fully understand each of the steps that the..." Read more

"...Nick Bostrom's book is fairly comprehensive and in depth. I am enjoying it as much as an excellent read in philosophy of science.,..." Read more

"...This challenging and occasionally difficult book, written by a philosopher who has explored these issues in depth, argues that the emergence of..." Read more

20 customers mention "Logical content"10 positive10 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the logical content of the book. Some mention it's exceptional, thorough, and inclusive. Others say it's surprisingly unconvincing, full of logical fallacies, and has no viable conclusions.

"...or are in that camp yourself, he does an amazingly thorough job of exhaustively envisioning and examining possible scenarios...." Read more

"...structure of concerns which float in reality upon a puff of very inadequate analysis." Read more

"...Exceptionally logical and rational, comprehensive enough that it remains thoroughly relevant despite having been written before chatGPT." Read more

"...the book just becomes boring, because there are no reflections on what flaky assumptions were made earlier - just constant moving forward...." Read more

28 customers mention "Pacing"7 positive21 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book overwhelming boring, dull, and repetitive. They say it lacks a proper narrative to tie the chapters together and becomes tedious and tiring. Readers also mention the book lacks life and is hard to read.

"...It gets particularly boring when the author actually does spend pages over pages on introducing a framework on how our AI algorithms could improve..." Read more

"...of the many subjects the book is implicitly dealing with but failing to engage, there is a crucial failure to motivate its extensive considerations..." Read more

"...A bit dry in parts, but there are humorous and entertaining parts as well." Read more

"...In the middle, the book just becomes boring, because there are no reflections on what flaky assumptions were made earlier - just constant moving..." Read more

18 customers mention "Speculative content"0 positive18 negative

Customers find the book very thick in speculations. They say it covers a lot of theory and has detailed descriptions of too many scenarios. Readers also mention that the book is pretty dense and not a light read.

"...While the hardcover is only 260 pages, it is very dense and can become a slow read if you are trying to fully understand each of the steps that the..." Read more

"...The context gets more unreal as we read on...." Read more

"...I have to be honest the book is a bit indulgent on speculation and without a true appreciation of the counter measures that inevitably will be..." Read more

"...It covers a lot of theory, has a lot of charts that can't be read on a kindle, and sums it up by saying, in effect, "who knows?" This..." Read more

Fast delivery, amazing book.
5 out of 5 stars
Fast delivery, amazing book.
I've read this book in digital form, and then went back to order it in physical form as well. I highly, *highly* recommend it to people.I personally prefer hardcover books over paperbacks, and one thing that I could probably complain about is that the hardcover doesn't have the print on itself, but rather, there's a wrapper with the print. It can easily be ripped, scuffed, crumpled (had a couple of really minor, barely noticeable crumples on arrival) or taken off, which is a bit annoying, but it is what it is I guess.If this is something that puts you off, you probably don't want to get the hardcover option. Other than that, nothing to complain about - the delivery was super fast and the book is in great shape!
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Top reviews from the United States

James Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Prescient and Comprehensive
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2024
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The book is not for beginners on the topic, but easily serves as a comprehensive introduction to AI and Superintelligence, paradoxically. Expect incredibly precise language, but intuitive explanations and concepts that will absolutely expand your mind. In the journey of reading this book, you will develop insights about our future that you probably never thought were possible. You will likely concern yourself about safety, and how seriously important it is that we consider what’s at stake with AI.

Bostrom is an impossibly powerful mind, and this book is akin to a bible as far as the topic goes. I strongly encourage anyone interested in being more informed about AI to read it. He really does touch on every single relevant dynamic from what could go right, economics, potential outcomes, various potential solutions, applications in health, war, etc, and so on. There is no stone left unturned and so you undeniably will be well versed on the conceptual aspects of the topic after finishing the book.
One person found this helpful
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E.Swope
5.0 out of 5 stars A good overview of issues in an age of AI
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2018
Verified Purchase
I picked this book up because I have a kid at CalTech majoring in AI programming, machine learning. He seems to see only upside, no real concerns about 99% of the population being put put of work, and what I believe is inadequate apprehension about what could go wrong. Mom is a huge fan of Stephen Hawking and he was more than a bit apprehensive about the potential problems with self-learning machines. Most of the books and articles I have read on the topic are cursory or naieve. Nick Bostrom's book is fairly comprehensive and in depth. I am enjoying it as much as an excellent read in philosophy of science., as I am for his expanding the boundaries of the conversation, indeed, broaching it in many areas. I honestly do not know whether he says everything which needs to be said, but he has clearly thought it through and done a good deal of exploring, consulting, conversing ,collaborating. It is far and away the best book I have read on the topic {though there are some good pieces in MIT Technology Review as well).

This is a book which is important and timely. We must seriously consider and weigh the potential for harm as well as good before creating a monster. While there may be areas which he has missed, I feel that when I read about a brute force approach to building human level AI by recreating a brain at the quantum level using Schrodinger's equation, the man is clearly pushing the boundaries. If nothing else it is a very good start to an important conversation.

I picked this up because I was considering sending a copy to my son, but read it first because he is a busy guy and chooses his side reading carefully. There are books and articles I might mention or even recommend, and others I tell him not to waste his time on, this is one I will be sending him {though I would be very very surprised if someone at Cal Tech did not broach ...all of what is contained here). I will let him determine if it is redundant. It is well written and thorough, and also very approachable. He says in the prologue that overly technical sections may be skipped without sacrificing any meaning. I have not encountered one I needed to skip, and have, in fact, very much enjoyed the level of discourse.

Read it if you are in the field to make sure you are covering all the bases. Read it if you are a scientist, philosopher, engineer to enjoy some very good writing. Read it if you are just encountering AI and want to quickly get to speed on the issues. It is not only a book I would recommend, but have, to anyone who would listen ;)
30 people found this helpful
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Skubalon12
4.0 out of 5 stars Likely the Best Philosophical Discussion of AI
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2016
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This book is heavily philosophical. While the hardcover is only 260 pages, it is very dense and can become a slow read if you are trying to fully understand each of the steps that the author takes you through to understand all of what the development of "superintelligence" will really entails. I am a layperson in both philosophy as well as computer science. The book took me about a week to read, but I had to skip over some parts (mostly near the end) where there was a vast departure from what I expected the book to be about. This isn't a criticism of course; it's just a good opportunity to try explaining what you get when sitting down to read this incredible work.

With this book, the author seeks to discuss just what the subtitle says: paths, dangers and strategies of humans creating a object that is superintelligent. It is not a technical discussion of what is currently happening in this area (for example, there are few mentions of current efforts like IBM's "Watson" or the robots being built by Boston Dynamics). This is a book whose purpose is to walk through (in a very abstract sense) the types, paths, dangers and scenarios related to mankind developing a superintelligence (one with a human-like general intelligence taken to an incredible, unimaginable degree). It is technical only in points such as the ethics of choosing how to program values into a superintelligence system. This isn't sci-fi, so please don't pick this one up thinking its a good companion to your Matrix trilogy collection.

Still, I think that this book is exceptional for its philosophical treatment of this issue. It's incredibly thorough and probably encompasses all the issues and concerns that mankind should wrestle with before lunging headfirst toward its first truly human-like AI. The issue of course is that in philosophizing about how the AI expansion may end up, all of this could happen or none of it could. As soon as you read the parts where the author talks about the development of an intelligence that exceeds our own, you realize the disadvantage we have in even guessing how things might evolve and what we could do to control it. Hopefully a lot of the right people read this (soon enough) so that these dangers are hopefully averted. This book is for the Elon Musks of this world, people with the capacity to both make real progress toward AI and understand the issues involved. For the rest of us, this is a lot of high philosophy that deserves attention but will probably be ignored for its low entertainment value.
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Husain
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening
Reviewed in India on July 27, 2024
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Bostrom presents many topics in a simple understandable way and also the book has interspersed principles of ethics in every chapter which shows its importance
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Alessandro F
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo
Reviewed in Italy on July 8, 2024
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Libro interessante e che si legge volentieri
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Oktay
5.0 out of 5 stars one of my favorite books
Reviewed in Sweden on January 26, 2023
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It is one of my favorite, I think it is must-read book for everyone in 21st century
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Daniela
5.0 out of 5 stars MUY BUEN PRODUCTO
Reviewed in Spain on May 10, 2020
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Es tal como quería, es de tapa blanda y muy cómodo de llevar.
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Ernesto
5.0 out of 5 stars Todos los interesados en el tema deben leerlo, y si no te interesa también es buena idea.
Reviewed in Mexico on March 30, 2018
Verified Purchase
5 estrellas porque a mí me encanta el tema, de hecho soy estudiante de filosofía y lo estoy usando para tres ensayos con temas tratados en el mismo libro. A pesar de que hay partes en las que es necesario un lenguaje técnico y una que otra fórmula matemática está escrito de forma muy amigable al lector común.
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