A new database of nanotechnology strategy resources

Target audience: people who are considering trying out nanotechnology strategy research, or who want to learn more about nanotechnology (strategy)-related things.

Marie Davidsen Buhl and I have made a database of resources relevant for nanotechnology strategy research. It contains over 40 articles, sorted by relevance for people new to nanotechnology strategy research.

Additional context:

Why nanotechnology strategy research might be important from a longtermist EA perspective: Advanced nanotechnology might arrive in the next couple of decades (my wild guess: there’s a 1-2% chance in the absence of transformative AI) and could have very positive or very negative implications for existential risk. There has been relatively little high-quality thinking on how to make the arrival of advanced nanotechnology go well, and I think there should be more work in this area (very tentatively, I suggest we want 2-3 people spending at least 50% of their time on this by 3 years from now).

See also my EA Forum post on this area from earlier this year, and the 80000 Hours cause profile.

Marie and I created this resources database as part of our roles at Rethink Priorities.

Ben Snodin

Ben Snodin is a Senior Researcher at Rethink Priorities working on risks and opportunities from advanced nanotechnology. Before joining RP, Ben was a Senior Research Scholar at the Future of Humanity Institute. Ben holds an MPhys (combined undergrad and master’s) in Physics and a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Oxford University, and has worked in finance as a quantitative analyst.

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