The cover of Bostrom’s book is dominated by a mad-eyed, pen-and-ink picture of an owl. This threat is not climate change, nor pandemic, nor nuclear winter it is the possibly imminent creation of a general machine intelligence greater than our own. The book is a lively, speculative examination of the singular threat that Bostrom believes – after years of calculation and argument – to be the one most likely to wipe us out. (In the best kind of literary review, Musk also gave Bostrom’s institute £1m to continue to pursue its inquiries.) His reputation rests primarily on his book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, which was a surprise New York Times bestseller last year and now arrives in paperback, trailing must-read recommendations from Bill Gates and Tesla’s Elon Musk. Bostrom, a 43-year-old Swedish-born philosopher, has lately acquired something of the status of prophet of doom among those currently doing most to shape our civilisation: the tech billionaires of Silicon Valley.
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