NewsMacroTyler Cowen to Host Nick Bostrom for a Conversation

Tyler Cowen to Host Nick Bostrom for a Conversation

Author: Marginal Revolution·

Key Takeaways

  • •Tyler Cowen is inviting readers to submit questions for an upcoming long-form Conversations interview with philosopher Nick Bostrom.
  • •Bostrom is a Swedish-born Oxford philosopher recognized for his research on existential risk, superintelligence, human enhancement ethics, and the simulation hypothesis.
  • •He founded Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, a research center that operated within the university's Faculty of Philosophy until its closure in 2024.
  • •Bostrom's 2014 book 'Superintelligence' is widely cited as a foundational text in the AI alignment field and helped bring long-term AI risk into mainstream academic and policy discussions.
  • •His most recent book, 'Deep Utopia' (2024), explores questions of meaning, purpose, and human flourishing in a hypothetical future where major technological and civilizational challenges have been resolved.
Tyler Cowen to Host Nick Bostrom for a Conversation

Tyler Cowen has announced that he will be recording a Conversation with philosopher Nick Bostrom. He is inviting readers to submit questions for the upcoming interview.

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish-born philosopher at the University of Oxford, best known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, superintelligence risks, and the simulation hypothesis. He is the founding director of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute — a research center that operated within the university's Faculty of Philosophy until its closure in 2024 — and the author of Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) and Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World (2024). Superintelligence is widely cited as a foundational text in the AI alignment field, having helped bring questions about long-term AI risk into mainstream academic and policy discussions. Deep Utopia, his most recent book, explores questions of meaning, purpose, and human flourishing in a hypothetical future where major technological and civilizational challenges have been resolved.

Cowen's Conversations series features long-form, wide-ranging interviews with prominent thinkers across economics, science, philosophy, technology, and the arts. Past guests have included leading academics, authors, entrepreneurs, and public intellectuals. The series is known for its open-ended format, often moving across a guest's full body of work rather than focusing on a single topic.

Cowen asks readers: "What should I ask?" For reference, various Bostrom links can be found here.