Aegis 2015
74
Book Review >>> Kevin Gebura
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Bostrom, Nick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 352 pp.
Once human intellectual capacity is surpassed by human inventions, superintelligence exists (52). Forewarning, Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence is not an effective introduction to any of the disciplines that inform the discussion of superintelligence. Bostrom’s background in physics and computational neuroscience is evident throughout the book. Readers without such backgrounds may have a difficult time following along. However, after reading about Bostrom’s account of superintelligence, the topic is undeniably important and relevant to current and future generations. The philosophical discourse in this book reflects this imperative sense of understanding and preparing for superintelligence. Readers may struggle to appreciate the work done in this book if they are without prior experience within the philosophical, mathematical or scientific communities. Given this lack of accessibility, the book may have less of an impact than it perhaps deserves. Superintelligence is predicated on science and rationality, creating a philosophically sophisticated account of how humans may be plotting their own demise. In the preface, Bostrom says that the book is written to please an earlier version of himself, but that its contents can be understood with enough rigor in thought and resistance to misunderstand him via cultural preconceptions of superintelligence (viii). Because Bostrom has so many terminologies at play, it may be a struggle during the first read-through for a reader to thoroughly understand what Bostrom is trying to say. There are sections throughout the book where Bostrom elaborates further with tables, diagrams and equations. Many of these sections require an understanding of advanced mathematics and will probably not provide clarity to an untrained mind. Bostrom maps the different paths that may lead to superintelligence, and holds the reader’s hand to see where each one leads. It is likely that readers will be overwhelmed when trying to understand all the paths to superintelligence that Bostrom provides. However, overlooking these details may result in a failure to see how comprehensive his account is. No predictions are made about which path is better because each will require unique precautions, risks and outcomes. Bostrom does not explicitly offer his own preference about how to handle superintelligence. Much of his argumentation is about what will happen depending on the form of superintelligence that gets established. The book has innumerable endnotes and readers will spend a great deal of time either reading on without full clarity or flipping back and forth dozens of times per chapter. If readers have trouble following his discussions (such as those that involve esoteric concepts) the endnotes offer further explanations and additional resources. This is yet another reason why Superintelligence is not an easy read. To make the author’s complex account simpler, here are
