Books like The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity

01

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Nick Bostrom · Science

Superintelligence is Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom's systematic analysis of what might happen if artificial intelligence systems become more capable than humans — and why that transition might represent one of the most significant risks in human history.

Both dig into existential risk.

02

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

Elizabeth Kolbert · Science

The Sixth Extinction is Elizabeth Kolbert's account of the mass extinction event currently underway — the sixth in Earth's history, and the first caused by a single species.

A kindred philosophy read.

03

Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

Stuart Russell · Science

Human Compatible is Stuart Russell's argument, from inside mainstream AI research, that the standard model of AI — build a system that optimizes for a fixed objective — is the wrong approach, and that the transition to much more capable AI systems requires a fundamental change in how AI is designed.

A kindred philosophy read.

04

A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution

Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg · Science

A Crack in Creation is Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg's account of how CRISPR-Cas9 works, what it can do, and why its possibilities should give everyone pause.

A kindred philosophy read.

05

What We Owe the Future

William MacAskill · Philosophy

What We Owe the Future is philosopher William MacAskill's case for "longtermism" — the view that positively influencing the long-run trajectory of human civilization should be a primary moral priority.

Both dig into existential risk.

06

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card · Science fiction

Ender's Game takes place in a future where Earth has barely survived two invasions by an insectoid alien species called the Formics.

Both dig into moral responsibility.

07

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Max Tegmark · Science

Life 3.0 is Max Tegmark's accessible survey of the questions raised by the prospect of human-level and superhuman artificial intelligence: What are the plausible paths to AGI?

Both dig into existential risk.

08

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Richard Rhodes · History

Richard Rhodes spent years researching the scientific and political story behind the Manhattan Project, and the result is a work of narrative history that refuses to treat the bomb as either a triumph or a horror to be judged from a comfortable distance.

Both dig into moral responsibility.

09

1984

George Orwell · Philosophy

Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's 1949 novel about a future England called Airstrip One, governed by the totalitarian Party under the figurehead Big Brother.

A kindred philosophy read.

10

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari · Philosophy

Where Sapiens traced humanity's past and Homo Deus speculated about its future, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century plants itself in the present.

A kindred philosophy read.

11

A Guide to the Good Life

William Irvine · Philosophy

William Irvine's book is a modern case for reviving Stoic philosophy as a practical guide to living well.

A kindred philosophy read.

12

A History of Western Philosophy

Bertrand Russell · Philosophy

A History of Western Philosophy is Bertrand Russell's single-volume account of Western philosophical thought from the pre-Socratics through Aristotle, the Stoics, medieval Scholasticism, the Renaissance, the empiricists and rationalists, Kant, German Idealism, and the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A kindred philosophy read.