Existential Risks Initiative
Working to preserve the future of humanity.
Our own Dr. Steve Luby talks to David Brancaccio on Marketplace Morning Report about existential risks.
What is existential risk?
Existential risks, or global catastrophic risks, are risks that could cause the collapse of human civilization. Prominent examples of human-driven global catastrophic risks include but are not limited to:
- nuclear war
- pandemics, bioterrorism, and other threats related to advances in biotechnology
- catastrophic accidents/misuse and other risks related to advances in AI
- effects of extreme climate change and environmental degradation
What we do:
The Stanford Existential Risks Initiative (SERI) hosts and promotes academic scholarship and cross-talk regarding existential risks.
Our work falls broadly into two categories:
- Helping people engage with existential risk research through:
- Postdoctoral Fellows
- Summer Student Fellowship for both graduate and undergraduate students
- Working groups that write literature on existential risks
- Bringing together different disciplines in the goal of preventing existential risks
- SERI Annual Symposium
- Collaboration with other X-Risk organizations such as the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the XLab.
Want to stay in the loop?
News
-
August 03, 2025
Events
No events at this time. Please check back later.
Main content start
