Skip to content
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 launched
The
Autonomous Weapons Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on the autonomous weapons space with a monthly newsletter covering policymaking efforts, weapons systems technology, and more.

Sign up to the newsletter

Our 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 mission

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.
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 work

Outreach

We produce educational materials aimed at informing public discourse, as well as encouraging people to get involved.
Our Outreach work

Grantmaking

We provide grants to individuals and organisations working on projects that further our mission.
Our Grant Programs

Events

We convene leaders of the relevant fields to discuss ways of ensuring the safe development and use of powerful technologies.
Our Events

Featured Projects

What we're working on

Read about some of our current featured projects:
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.

MIRI’s April 2017 Newsletter

The following post was originally published here. Our newest publication, “Cheating Death in Damascus,” makes the case for functional decision […]
April 7, 2017

MIRI March 2017 Newsletter

Research updates New at IAFF: Some Problems with Making Induction Benign; Entangled Equilibria and the Twin Prisoners’ Dilemma; Generalizing Foundations […]
March 16, 2017

FLI February, 2017 Newsletter

FLI February, 2017 Newsletter Discussing the Future of AI To ensure beneficial AI, we need broader insight. Last month, as […]
March 7, 2017
Read previous editions
Our content

Latest posts

The most recent posts we have published:

55 Years After Preventing Nuclear Attack, Arkhipov Honored With Inaugural Future of Life Award

Celebrating the contributions of Vasili Arkhipov Click here to see this page in other languages: Russian London, UK – On […]
October 27, 2017

Understanding Artificial General Intelligence — An Interview With Hiroshi Yamakawa

Click here to see this page in other languages : Japanese    Russian Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is something of a holy grail […]
October 23, 2017

DeepMind’s AlphaGo Zero Becomes Go Champion Without Human Input

DeepMind’s AlphaGo Zero AI program just became the Go champion of the world without human data or guidance. This new […]
October 18, 2017

Full Transcript: Understanding Artificial General Intelligence — An Interview With Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa

Click here to see this page in other languages : Japanese    Russian Hiroshi Yamakawa is the Director of Dwango AI Laboratory, […]
October 12, 2017
View all posts

Policy papers

The most recent policy papers we have published:
View all policy papers

Future of Life Institute Podcast

The most recent podcasts we have broadcast:
View all episodes

Media mentions

Sign up for the Future of Life Institute newsletter

Join 40,000+ others receiving periodic updates on our work and cause areas.
cloudmagnifiercrossarrow-up linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram