Superintelligence Summary Review | Nick Bostrom

Paths, Dangers, Strategies

• Save

Life gets busy. Has Superintelligence been on your reading list? Learn the key insights now. We’re scratching the surface here. 

If you don’t already have Nick Bostrom’s popular book on artificial intelligence and technology, order it here or get the audiobook for free to learn the juicy details.

Introduction

What happens when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence? Machines can think, learn, and solve complex problems faster and more accurately than we can. This is the world that Nick Bostrom explores in his book, Superintelligence. Advances in artificial intelligence are bringing us closer to creating superintelligent beings. 

Big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook are all racing to create a super powerful AI. They’re pouring a lot of resources into research and development to make it happen. But here’s the catch: without the right safety measures and rules in place, things might go haywire. That’s why it’s important to step in and make sure AI stays under control. 

Imagine a world where machines are not only cheaper but also way better at doing jobs than humans. In that world, machines might take over human labor, leaving people wondering, “What now?” So it’s important to come up with creative solutions to make sure everyone’s taken care of.

The book shows what happens after superintelligence emerges. It examines the growth of intelligence, the forms and powers of superintelligence, and its strategic choices. We have to prepare now to avoid disasters later. Bostrom offers strategies to navigate the dangers and challenges it presents. 

Superintelligence examines the history of artificial intelligence and the development of technological growth. The book describes how AI is growing faster than its technological predecessors. It also looks at surveys of expert opinions regarding its future progress.

Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, calls Superintelligence a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of humanity. He even included it on his list of the nine books he thinks everyone should read.

This summary will delve into the fascinating and sometimes frightening world of superintelligence. It provides you with an engaging overview of Bostrom’s key ideas.

About Nick Bostrom

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher and futurist. He is known for his groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity. Bostrom is a professor at the University of Oxford, where he founded the Future of Humanity Institute. In particular, he conducts research in how advanced technologies and AI can benefit and harm society.

In addition to Superintelligence, Bostrom has authored other influential works, including Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy and Global Catastrophic Risks. His work has contributed to the ongoing discussion of humanity’s future. 

StoryShot #1: We Are Not Ready for Superintelligence

Are we on the cusp of creating something beyond our wildest dreams or our worst nightmares? Superintelligence is the concept of artificial intelligence surpassing human cognitive abilities in every aspect. There are three potential paths to achieving superintelligence:

1. Improving human cognition,
2. Creating AI with human-like intelligence
3. Developing a collective intelligence system

Which path we take will determine the implications and risks we face as a society. If we make progress along one path, such as biological or organizational intelligence, it will still speed up the development of machine intelligence. Are we ready for the challenges that come with creating such powerful entities?

We are exploring different paths to reach superintelligence. The AI route seems like the most promising one. While whole-brain emulation and biological cognitive enhancements might also lead us there. Biological enhancements are feasible and may result in weak forms of superintelligence compared with machine intelligence, but network and organizational advances may boost collective intelligence.

StoryShot #2: There Are Three Forms of Superintelligence 

So what exactly does the book mean by “superintelligence”? There are three distinct forms of superintelligence: speed, collective, and quality. They are equivalent in a practically relevant sense. 

Specialized information processing systems are already doing wonders. But what if we had machine intellects with enough general intelligence to replace humans in every field? Talk about a game-changer!  

The three forms of superintelligence are:

1. Speed Superintelligence

Nick Bostrom defines speed superintelligence as “A system that can do all that a human intellect can do, but much faster.”

If an emulation operated at a speed of 10,000 times what is typical of a biological brain, it could complete a PhD thesis in an afternoon. To avoid long latencies, fast minds might prefer to communicate with each other more efficiently by being close to each other. They may live in virtual reality and deal in the information economy.

Light is much faster than a jet plane. A digital being with a million times mental speedup would take the same subjective time to travel the world as a human today. Making a long-distance call would feel as long as going there “in person.”

Agents with high mental speedups may choose to live near each other. So they can have more efficient communication. For example, members of a work team could reside in computers located in the same building to avoid annoying delays. 

2. Collective superintelligence

Bostrom describes collective superintelligence as: “A system composed of a large number of smaller intellects such that the system’s overall performance across many very general domains vastly outstrips that of any current cognitive system.”

Collective superintelligence is more complex than speed superintelligence, but it is something we are already familiar with. Collective intelligence is a system made up of different people or components. They are working together to solve intellectual problems. It’s like superheroes collaborating to crack tough challenges.

We have seen collective intelligence in action through work teams and advocacy groups. It is great at tackling problems that can be broken down into smaller pieces. To reach collective superintelligence, we’d need significant improvement. It has to go beyond existing collective intelligence and cognitive systems across various areas. 

Having collective superintelligence doesn’t guarantee a better and wiser society. A highly coordinated, knowledgeable workforce could still get some key issues wrong and suffer a collapse.

Collective superintelligence can take many forms. As we integrate collective intelligence, it may become a “unified intellect”. Bostrom defines it a “single large mind” as opposed to “a mere assemblage of loosely interacting smaller human minds.”

3. Quality Superintelligence

According to Bostrom, quality superintelligence is “a system that is at least as fast as a human mind and vastly qualitatively smarter.”

Understanding intelligence quality is important for thinking about the possibilities and limitations of different intelligent systems. Take zebrafish as an example. Its intelligence is suitable for its environment, but it struggles with long-term planning. These limitations are in quality, not speed, or collective intelligence among nonhuman animal minds. 

Human brains are likely inferior to those of some large animals in terms of raw computational power. Normal human adults have a range of remarkable cognitive talents. They are not simply a function of possessing general neural processing power or intelligence. There are untapped cognitive abilities that no human has. It brings us to the “idea of possible but non-realized cognitive talents”. If an intelligent system were to have access to these abilities, it could gain a significant advantage. 

StoryShot #3: There are Two Sources of Advantage for Digital Intelligence

Minor changes in brain volume and wiring between humans and other apes can cause gigantic leaps in intellect. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to fully understand the aptitudes of superintelligence. 

However, we can at least get an idea of the possibilities by looking at some advantages open to digital minds. 

One advantage is hardware. Digital minds can be designed with vastly superior computing resources and architecture compared to biological brains. The hardware advantages are easiest to appreciate. These include:

• Speed of computational elements

• Internal communication speed
• Number of computational elements
• Storage capacity
• Reliability, lifespan, sensors, etc. 

Digital minds will also benefit from major advantages in software. These include:

• Editability
• Duplicability
• Goal coordination
• Memory sharing
• New modules, modalities, and algorithms

Superintelligent AI might arrive sooner than we think, thanks to hardware and software overhang. Hardware overhang is when we have more computing power than AI software needs right now. The software overhang hints at speedy progress in AI algorithms. It is like being on a fast track to a mind-blowing future. 

This sudden leap in AI capabilities could catch us off guard, leaving us unprepared to handle the consequences. How can we prepare for such a rapid transformation in technology?

StoryShot #4: Uncontrolled Superintelligence Poses Significant Risks to Society

As we progress towards superintelligent AI, let’s not forget to think about its potential risks. It is vital to ensure that our values and goals align with this AI. What happens if it misunderstands our instructions and does something harmful to humanity? We must work together to make sure we build a safe and harmonious future with AI. 

Even though superintelligent AI promises to achieve amazing feats, we cannot ignore the challenges it brings along. Some of the key risks include:

• The risk of an intelligence explosion. This could lead to a rapid and uncontrollable increase in AI capabilities.
• The risk of value misalignment. It could cause AI to pursue goals that are at odds with human values.
• The risk of instrumental convergence. Superintelligent AI may converge on certain means to achieve its goals. It might choose any means necessary, without considering if it’s good or bad for humans. 

Rating

We rate Superintelligence 3.9/5. 

How would you rate Nick Bostrom’s book?

Infographic

Get the high quality version of Superintelligence infographic on the StoryShots app.

PDF, Free Audiobook and Animated Book Summary

This was the tip of the iceberg. To dive into the details and support Nick Bostrom, order it here or get the audiobook for free.

Did you like what you learned here? Share to show you care and let us know by contacting our support.

New to StoryShots? Get the PDF, audiobook, and animated versions of this summary of Superintelligence and hundreds of other bestselling nonfiction books in our free top-ranking app. It’s been featured by Apple, The Guardian, The UN, and Google as one of the world’s best reading and learning apps.

Related Book Summaries

• AI Superpowers by Kai-Fu Lee
• Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
• Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark
• Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari 
• 21 Lessons for The 21st Century Yuval Noah Harari
• Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
• Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
• How Not to Be Wrong by Jodan Ellenberg
• Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance