Topics
For an overview, see about global catastrophic risk.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is an important emerging issue. It demands an interdisciplinary study including computer science as well as the social science of how AI is built and used.
Climate & Environment
Human activity is causing climate change and other changes to the global environment. This poses a major risk and demands significant action to reduce the risk.
Cross-Risk Systems
There are significant interconnections between the global catastrophic risks and decisions that can affect multiple risks. This can be addressed through a systemic, cross-risk approach.
Ethics
Global catastrophic risk is a major ethical issue and is arguably of paramount ethical importance. Attention to ethics is needed to guide actions to address the risk while accounting for related issues.
Nuclear War
The study of nuclear war has a long history, but basic questions concerning the risk and how to reduce the risk have not been well characterized.
Outer Space
A global catastrophe could be of astronomical significance, preventing Earth-life from ever expanding across the cosmos. Outer space is also a source of risks to life on Earth.
Pandemics & Biorisk
Natural pathogens can cause severe global disease outbreaks. Modern biotechnology can help reduce the risk while also creating new risks to humans and other species.
Resilience & Recovery
The severity of global catastrophes depends on the resilience of human civilization and, if civilization collapses, how successfully the survivors would recover.
Risk & Decision Analysis
The probability and severity of global catastrophe are not easy to quantify, but rigorous risk and decision analysis techniques can nonetheless be valuable for informing decisions.
Solutions & Strategy
Efforts to reduce the risk of global catastrophe should go beyond theoretical scholarship to take into account the real-world context in which solutions would be implemented.
Aftermath of Global Catastrophe
How well would survivors of global catastrophe fare? This perhaps the largest and most important point of uncertainty in the study of global catastrophic risk.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is an important emerging issue. It demands an interdisciplinary study including computer science as well as the social science of how AI is built and used.
Cross-Risk Systems
There are significant interconnections between the global catastrophic risks and decisions that can affect multiple risks. This can be addressed through a systemic, cross-risk approach.
Nuclear War
The study of nuclear war has a long history, but basic questions concerning the risk and how to reduce the risk have not been well characterized.
Risk & Decision Analysis
The probability and severity of global catastrophe are not easy to quantify, but rigorous risk and decision analysis techniques can nonetheless be valuable for informing decisions.
Solutions & Strategy
Efforts to reduce the risk of global catastrophe should go beyond theoretical scholarship to take into account the real-world context in which solutions would be implemented.