Thinking Allowed

The Vulnerable World Hypothesis

2024-01-11 08:45:18

"This paper introduces the concept of a vulnerable world: roughly, one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default, i.e. unless it has exited the ‘semi-anarchic default condition’. Several counterfactual historical and speculative future vulnerabilities are analyzed and arranged into a typology. A general ability to stabilize a vulnerable world would require greatly amplified capacities for preventive policing and global governance. The vulnerable world hypothesis thus offers a new perspective from which to evaluate the risk-benefit balance of developments towards ubiquitous surveillance or a unipolar world order." Bostrom, N. (2019), The Vulnerable World Hypothesis. Glob Policy, 10: 455-476.

A great (and unsettling) series of thought experiments exploring the implications of technological advancement and policy.

Professor Nick Bostrom leads the Future of Humanity Institute (which includes the Centre for Governance of AI) at Oxford University.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

vulnerable world hypothesis bostrom governance default technological policy