July Newsletter: Asteroid-Nuclear Risk Analysis

Dear friends,

One reason it is important to analyze the global catastrophic risks quantitatively is that some decisions involve tradeoffs between them. An action may reduce one risk while increasing another. It’s important to know whether the decrease in the one risk is large enough to offset the increase in the other.

This month, we announce a new paper that presents a detailed analysis of one such decision: the use of nuclear explosives to deflect Earthbound asteroids away. Nuclear deflection is an option under active consideration by …

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The Great Downside Dilemma For Risky Emerging Technologies

View the paper “The Great Downside Dilemma For Risky Emerging Technologies”

A downside dilemma is any decision in which one option promises benefits but comes with a risk of significant harm. An example is the game of Russian roulette. The decision is whether to play. Choosing to play promises benefits but comes with the risk of death. This paper introduces the great downside dilemma as any decision in which one option promises great benefits to humanity but comes with a risk of human civilization being destroyed. …

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Minimizing Global Catastrophic and Existential Risks from Emerging Technologies Through International Law

View the paper “Minimizing Global Catastrophic and Existential Risks from Emerging Technologies Through International Law”

Mankind is rapidly developing “emerging technologies” in the fields of bioengineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence that have the potential to solve humanity’s biggest problems, such as curing all disease, extending human life, or mitigating massive environmental problems like climate change. However, if these emerging technologies are misused or have an unintended negative effect, the consequences could be enormous, potentially resulting in serious, global damage to humans (known as “global catastrophic harm”) …

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June 2013 Newsletter

Dear friends,

We took the opportunity over the past month to jumpstart our online lectures, which previously hadn’t gotten the attention they deserve. We’re now announcing six new lectures over the next three months, with more in the works. It’s a wonderful mix of topics, ranging from chemical pollution to pandemics to artificial intelligence, and including original natural and social science, legal and policy analysis, and more. This breadth is what makes global catastrophic risk so challenging and exciting. We hope you’ll join us for some of …

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