Superintelligence
Superintelligence by Nick Bostromby Nick Bostrom
Hacker ApprovedRanked 19 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Recommended as a serious, detailed early look at the risks of advanced AI and its threat to humanity. Critics find it dry and not fully persuasive.
Recommended as a serious, detailed early look at the risks of advanced AI and its threat to humanity. Critics find it dry and not fully persuasive.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 12 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Serious, detailed look at AI risk
“i found it very serious and detailed”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “I resigned from Anthropic today” “it is how I came to understand this problem early”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “AI companies in race to demonstrate their model most threatening to humanity” Go-to nonfiction pick on AI risk
“For non-fiction you could look at Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence”
Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “QBittorrent breaks out of sandbox to commit crimes” “that's the book with the argument that you are looking for”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “Why "everyone dies" gets AGI all wrong” “The books 'Superintelligence' (978-0199678112) and 'The Coming Wave' (978-1529923834) are worth reading.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “We must pace the frontier”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Speculative, not grounded in events
“practically all cases it presents read like raypunk retro-futurism that makes up imaginary fantastical nonsense”
Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “AI 2040: Plan A” “A book that has been thoroughly discredited by actual events.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “What was your "Oh Shit" moment with GenAI?”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| Superintelligenceby Nick BostromThis page | 12 | 3 | 80% | 8 | 12 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
16 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“His other book, Superintelligence, is also pretty interesting”
“it is how I came to understand this problem early”
“It was interesting, but not terribly persuasive.”
“The books 'Superintelligence' (978-0199678112) and 'The Coming Wave' (978-1529923834) are worth reading.”
“at the time I thought it was some of the best sci fi I'd ever consumed”
“i found it very serious and detailed”
“For non-fiction you could look at Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence”
“all the text was noticeably justified, often with large gaps between words”
“quite a prescient read when it was published a decade ago”
“practically all cases it presents read like raypunk retro-futurism that makes up imaginary fantastical nonsense”
“A book that has been thoroughly discredited by actual events.”
“Bostrom's Superintelligence (2014) is a bit of a dreary read, and I didn't finish it, but it pulls no punches about the leverage”
“we are basically racing towards the extinction of our species”
“AI is not just a threat to your job, it is a threat to your life.”
“More people need to read "Superintelligence". Everyone talks about job losses risk, no one talks about human extinction risk.”
“that's the book with the argument that you are looking for”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.