Staff

Professor Nick Bostrom

Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology

Nick Bostrom is Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy and Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. He previously taught at Yale University. His current research centers on big picture questions for humanity, with foci on issues in the foundations of probability theory, scientific methodology and rationality, human enhancement, global catastrophic risks, moral philosophy, and consequences of future technology.

Dr. Anders Sandberg

James Martin Research Associate

Anders Sandberg’s research at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology centres on societal and ethical issues surrounding human enhancement and new technology, as well as estimating the capabilities and underlying science of future technologies. Topics of particular interest include enhancement of cognition, cognitive biases, technology-enabled collective intelligence, neuroethics and public policy. He has worked on this within the EU project ENHANCE, where he also was responsible for public outreach and online presence.

Dr. Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh

James Martin Academic Project Manager with the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology

Seán has a background in genetics, having recently finished his phD in molecular evolution in Trinity College Dublin, where he focused on programmed ribosomal frameshifting and comparative genomic approaches to improve genome annotation. He is also the cofounder of a successful voluntary arts organisation in Ireland that now runs popular monthly events and an annual outdoor festival.

Dr. Toby Ord

James Martin Research Fellow with the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology

Toby Ord's background combines theoretical computer science with analytic philosophy. He is especially interested in how certain key future technologies may seriously affect society for good or ill, on a timescale of around thirty to a hundred years. Examples include the risks and opportunities surrounding artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, geoengineering, and nanotechnology. Toby is interested in both how these technologies could impact our future, and in what ways we could realistically steer a course to avoid the harms without sacrificing the benefits.

Professor David Deutsch

Consultant to the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology

Professor David Deutsch (Department of Atomic and Laser Physics, Centre for Quantum Computation, Clarendon Laboratory) pioneered the field of quantum computation by being the first person to formulate a description for a quantum Turing machine, as well as specifying an algorithm designed to run on a quantum computer. He is also a proponent of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

His contribution is described by the Royal Society of London as follows:

Professor Vincent C. Müller

James Martin Research Fellow: Future of Computing and Cognitive Systems with the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technologies

Vincent C. Müller's research at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology focuses on the nature and future of computational systems, particularly on the prospects of artificial intelligence. He is the coordinator of the European Network for Cognitive Systems, Robotics and Interaction (2009-2014), funded by the European Union through two FP7 projects with 3.9 mil. € (www.eucognition.org). Müller is also Professor of Philosophy at the American College of Thessaloniki/Anatolia College.