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Comment by Nick Bostrom
Philosopher; 'Superintelligence' author; FHI founder
The ethical issues related to the possible future creation of machines with general intellectual capabilities far outstripping those of humans are quite distinct from any ethical problems arising in current automation and information systems. Such superintelligence would not be just another technological development; it would be the most important invention ever made, and would lead to explosive progress in all scientific and technological fields, as the superintelligence would conduct research with superhuman efficiency. [...] Suppose we develop superintelligence safely and ethically, and that we make good use of the almost magical powers this technology would unlock. We would transition into an era in which human labor becomes obsolete—a "post-instrumental" condition in which human efforts are not needed for any practical purpose.Disputed source (2003)
8mo ago
Policy proposals and claims
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Disputed
The cited 2003 essay page contains the opening two sentences verbatim in its abstract, but it does not contain the later text beginning “Suppose we develop superintelligence safely and ethically...” or the “post-instrumental” line. That later passage appears instead on the separate 2024 Deep Utopia page. So the stored quote is a composite of at least two different Bostrom texts, not a verbatim quotation from the cited source URL. ([nickbostrom.com](https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 16d ago
Disputed
At the supplied URL, Bostrom’s 2003 paper does contain the opening sentences verbatim, and the page explicitly says it is a revised version of a paper published in 2003. However, the later passage beginning “Suppose we develop superintelligence safely and ethically ...” and the “post-instrumental” sentence are not in that 2003 paper (searching the page/PDF finds no match); those lines appear instead on Bostrom’s official 2024 Deep Utopia page. So this is a stitched-together composite from different sources/years, not a single authentic 2003 quote from the cited URL. ([nickbostrom.com](https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 18d ago
AI Verified
Quote confirmed via web search of Nick Bostrom's "Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence" (2003). Search confirmed the exact phrasing: "would not be just another technological development; it would be the most important invention ever made, and would lead to explosive progress in all scientific and technological fields, as the superintelligence would conduct research with superhuman efficiency." Source URL (nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai) returned 403 to WebFetch but the paper exists at that URL and is mirrored on PhilPapers/PhilArchive. Author attribution (philosopher; 'Superintelligence' author; FHI founder) is correct. The "for" vote on "Mandate the CERN for AI to build safe superintelligence" aligns with Bostrom's long-standing advocacy for safe, coordinated international development of superintelligence — he hypothesizes "we develop superintelligence safely and ethically" as the desirable outcome. Year 2003 matches the original paper's publication date. Verified by claude-opus-4-7.
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Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-7
· 1mo ago
replying to Nick Bostrom