Our mission
Steering transformative technology towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks.
We believe that the way powerful technology is developed and used will be the most important factor in determining the prospects for the future of life. This is why we have made it our mission to ensure that technology continues to improve those prospects.
Just announced
The 2023 Future of Life Award
This year, the Future of Life Award honours five unsung individuals who used the power of storytelling to reduce the threat of nuclear war. Their work played a direct role in shaping policy and raising public awareness about the grave risks associated with nuclear warfare. Their achievements have helped avert catastrophe for humanity.
View the awardOur mission
Ensuring that our technology remains beneficial for life
Our mission is to steer transformative technologies away from extreme, large-scale risks and towards benefiting life.
Read more
How certain technologies are developed and used has far-reaching consequences for all life on earth.
If properly managed, these technologies could change the world in a way that makes life substantially better, both for those alive today and those who will one day be born. They could be used to treat and eradicate diseases, strengthen democratic processes, mitigate - or even halt - climate change and restore biodiversity.
If irresponsibly managed, they could inflict serious harms on humanity and other animal species. In the most extreme cases, they could bring about the fragmentation or collapse of societies, and even push us to the brink of extinction.
The Future of Life Institute works to reduce the likelihood of these worst-case outcomes, and to help ensure that transformative technologies are used to the benefit of life.
Our missionIf properly managed, these technologies could change the world in a way that makes life substantially better, both for those alive today and those who will one day be born. They could be used to treat and eradicate diseases, strengthen democratic processes, mitigate - or even halt - climate change and restore biodiversity.
If irresponsibly managed, they could inflict serious harms on humanity and other animal species. In the most extreme cases, they could bring about the fragmentation or collapse of societies, and even push us to the brink of extinction.
The Future of Life Institute works to reduce the likelihood of these worst-case outcomes, and to help ensure that transformative technologies are used to the benefit of life.
Cause areas
The risks we focus on
We are currently concerned by three major risks. They all hinge on the development, use and governance of transformative technologies. We focus our efforts on guiding the impacts of these technologies.
Artificial Intelligence
From recommender algorithms to chatbots to self-driving cars, AI is changing our lives. As the impact of this technology grows, so will the risks.
Artificial Intelligence
Biotechnology
From the accidental release of engineered pathogens to the backfiring of a gene-editing experiment, the dangers from biotechnology are too great for us to proceed blindly.
Biotechnology
Nuclear Weapons
Almost eighty years after their introduction, the risks posed by nuclear weapons are as high as ever - and new research reveals that the impacts are even worse than previously reckoned.
Nuclear Weapons
UAV Kargu autonomous drones at the campus of OSTIM Technopark in Ankara, Turkey - June 2020.
Our work
How we are addressing these issues
There are many potential levers of change for steering the development and use of transformative technologies. We target a range of these levers to increase our chances of success.
Policy
We perform policy advocacy in the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.
Our Policy workOutreach
We produce educational materials aimed at informing public discourse, as well as encouraging people to get involved.
Our Outreach workGrantmaking
We provide grants to individuals and organisations working on projects that further our mission.
Our Grant ProgramsEvents
We convene leaders of the relevant fields to discuss ways of ensuring the safe development and use of powerful technologies.
Our EventsFeatured Projects
What we're working on
Read about some of our current featured projects:
UK AI Safety Summit
On November 1-2, the United Kingdom will convene the first ever global government meeting focussed on AI Safety. In the run-up to the summit, FLI has produced and published a document outlining key recommendations.
Strengthening the European AI Act
Our key recommendations include broadening the Act’s scope to regulate general purpose systems and extending the definition of prohibited manipulation to include any type of manipulatory technique, and manipulation that causes societal harm.
Educating about Lethal Autonomous Weapons
Military AI applications are rapidly expanding. We develop educational materials about how certain narrow classes of AI-powered weapons can harm national security and destabilize civilization, notably weapons where kill decisions are fully delegated to algorithms.
Artificial Escalation
Our new fictional film depicts a world where artificial intelligence ('AI') is integrated into nuclear command, control and communications systems ('NC3') with terrifying results.
Global AI governance at the UN
Our involvement with the UN's work spans several years and initiatives, including the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and the Global Digital Compact (GDC).
Worldbuilding Competition
The Future of Life Institute accepted entries from teams across the globe, to compete for a prize purse of up to $100,000 by designing visions of a plausible, aspirational future that includes strong artificial intelligence.
Future of Life Award
Every year, the Future of Life Award is given to one or more unsung heroes who have made a significant contribution to preserving the future of life.
Mitigating the Risks of AI Integration in Nuclear Launch
Avoiding nuclear war is in the national security interest of all nations. We pursue a range of initiatives to reduce this risk. Our current focus is on mitigating the emerging risk of AI integration into nuclear command, control and communication.
View all projects
newsletter
Regular updates about the technologies shaping our world
Every month, we bring 41,000+ subscribers the latest news on how emerging technologies are transforming our world. It includes a summary of major developments in our cause areas, and key updates on the work we do. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive these highlights at the end of each month.
Future of Life Institute Newsletter: Everyone's (Finally) Talking About AI Safety
Updates on AI regulation, a historic UN resolution, our new open letter on AI licensing, examining the Terms of Use of leading AI labs, and more. Also, just two weeks left to apply for FLI PhD fellowships!
Maggie Munro
November 1, 2023
Future of Life Institute Newsletter: Our Pause Letter, Six Months Later
Reflections on the six-month anniversary of our open letter, our UK AI Safety Summit recommendations, and more.
Maggie Munro
October 1, 2023
Future of Life Institute Newsletter: 'Imagine A World' is out today!
Envisioning positive futures with AI, and urgent calls for AI regulation continue.
Maggie Munro
September 5, 2023
Read previous editions
Our content
Latest posts
The most recent posts we have published:
Exploration of secure hardware solutions for safe AI deployment
This collaboration between the Future of Life Institute and Mithril Security explores hardware-backed AI governance tools for transparency, traceability, and confidentiality.
November 30, 2023
Protect the EU AI Act
A last-ditch assault on the EU AI Act threatens to jeopardise one of the legislation's most important functions: preventing our most powerful AI models from causing widespread harm to society.
November 22, 2023
Miles Apart: Comparing key AI Act proposals
Our analysis shows that the recent non-paper drafted by Italy, France, and Germany largely fails to provide any provisions on foundation models or general purpose AI systems, and offers much less oversight and enforcement than the existing alternatives.
November 21, 2023
Future Of Life Award 2023
With the 2023 Future of Life Award, we celebrate two films – both released amidst the cold war – that were profoundly impactful in reducing the threat of nuclear war, and the five storytellers behind them.
November 13, 2023
View all posts
Policy papers
The most recent policy papers we have published:
FLI AI Liability Directive: Executive Summary
November 2023
FLI AI Liability Directive: Full Version
November 2023
Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons: Problem Analysis and US Policy Recommendations
November 2023
FLI Governance Scorecard and Safety Standards Policy (SSP)
October 2023
View all policy papers
Future of Life Institute Podcast
The most recent podcasts we have broadcast:
October 6, 2023
Steve Omohundro on Provably Safe AGI
Play
View all episodes
