Thread by @ProfPaulPoast

This week in #ChicagoIntroIR2019, we're wrapping up the course's core material by thinking about "human extinction" -- a light and low key topic 😉

What are we reading to help us think about extinction?

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There are no required readings. But I highly recommend gaining some intellectual perspective on the *idea* of human extinction by reading @nemocentric in this blog post from @JHIdeas

jhiblog.org/2019/10/21/imm…

There are a host of threats that could bring about human extinction. This is something the folks at @FHIOxford, @CSERCambridge, & @FLIxrisk think about. A LOT.

For example, @FHIOxford researches a host of threats. Particularly relevant for class is the "Governance of AI" program headed by @AllanDafoe

fhi.ox.ac.uk/GovAI/

When thinking of AI's "Perils", there is no denying that Pop-Culture depictions influence our views and our politics, as discussed by @charlicarpenter & Kevin L. Young in this recent @ISQ_Jrnl piece

academic.oup.com/isq/article/62…

Could international cooperation be the solution for AI governance? The @FLIxrisk has thoughts:

futureoflife.org/ai-policy/?cn-…

Besides AI, other threats include climate disaster, nuclear annihilation, & asteroids (definitely asteroids).

But "Armageddon" was just a movie....right?

washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07…

In the article @astroduff, "stressed the importance of investing in a `global dedicated approach' to detecting asteroids because `sooner or later there will be one with our name on it. It’s just a matter of when, not if'"

Sounds like an international cooperation problem to me🤔

As for climate change, international cooperation has been tried...and found wanting

cnn.com/2018/11/27/wor…

So we'll spend Tuesday exploring these threats and how international cooperation *might* offer solutions. What is clear is that humans can't just "tech" our way out of these problems!

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