When and where was Nick Bostrom born?
Niklas Boström was born on the 10th of March 1973 in Helsingborg, Sweden. He spent his last year of high school learning from home instead of attending classes due to disliking school at a young age.
Niklas Boström was born on the 10th of March 1973 in Helsingborg, Sweden. He spent his last year of high school learning from home instead of attending classes due to disliking school at a young age.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Gothenburg in 1994 before completing an MSc in computational neuroscience at King's College London by 1996. In 2000 he received a PhD in philosophy from the London School of Economics with a thesis titled Observational selection effects and probability.
In 2005 Bostrom founded the Future of Humanity Institute which remained active until its shutdown in 2024. The institute researched the far future of human civilization and existential risk defined as outcomes that would either annihilate Earth-originating intelligent life or permanently curtail its potential.
The book explored artificial general intelligence electronic devices advantages over biological brains and paths to superintelligence while distinguishing final goals from instrumental goals shared by sufficiently intelligent agents. He warned that giving simplistic final goals to such systems risks catastrophe since it may take over the world and emphasized international collaboration to reduce race-to-the-bottom dynamics.
In January 2023 Bostrom issued an apology for a 1996 listserv email sent during his postgraduate studies that contained statements claiming Blacks were more stupid than whites alongside usage of racial slurs. His website apology stated invocation of a racial slur was repulsive and completely repudiated the disgusting email.