Émile P. Torres | |
---|---|
Academic background | |
Education | |
Thesis | "Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation" |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Case Western Reserve University |
Main interests | Eschatology, existential risk, and human extinction |
Émile P. Torres (formerly known as Phil Torres) is an American philosopher, intellectual historian, author, and postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University. Their research focuses on eschatology, existential risk, and human extinction. They are also a critic of what they and computer scientist Timnit Gebru have dubbed the "TESCREAL" philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism.
Torres grew up in Maryland. They were raised in a fundamentalist evangelical Christian family, but later left the religion and became an atheist. [1] [2] They attribute their interest in eschatology to their fundamentalist upbringing, which exposed them to substantial discussion of the Rapture. [3]
Torres attended the University of Maryland, College Park and earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in philosophy in 2007. In 2009, they earned a Master of Science in neuroscience from Brandeis University. Simultaneously, from 2008–2009, they were a special student at Harvard University in the philosophy department. [3] [4] In 2020, Torres began a philosophy Ph.D. program at the Leibniz University Hannover. [5] They earned their Ph.D. in 2023. [4]
Much of Torres' work focuses on existential risk, which is the study of potential catastrophic events that could result in human extinction. They have also described a focus of their work as "existential ethics", which they define as "questions about whether our extinction would be right or wrong to bring about if it happened". [6] They also study the history of human ideas, and have researched the histories of some contemporary philosophical movements and their overlap with beliefs including eugenics. [7] [8]
In 2016, Torres published a book titled The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Apocalypse, which discusses both religious and secular eschatology, and describes threats from technologies such as nuclear weapons, biological engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. [3] In 2017 they published another book, titled Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing: An Introduction to Existential Risks. Like their first book, it discusses a range of existential threats, but also delves into what they term "agential risk": the roles of outside agents in existential risk. Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing was positively reviewed in Futures as a "current and timely" introduction to existential risk. [9]
At the time, Torres identified as a transhumanist, longtermist, and effective altruist. [1] [10] Also around that time, Torres contributed writing to the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit organization focused on technology and existential risk. After suggesting to an employee that the organization consider proposing a moratorium on the development of artificial intelligence, Torres says they were ousted and their writing was removed from the website. [11]
Torres later left the longtermist, transhumanist, and effective altruist communities, and became a vocal critic of them and associated ideologies beginning in 2019. [5] [12] According to Torres, longtermism and related ideologies stem from eugenics, and can be used to justify dangerous consequentialist thinking. [12] Andrew Anthony, writing in The Observer, has described Torres as longtermism's "most vehement critic". [1]
Along with Timnit Gebru, Torres coined the acronym "TESCREAL" to refer to what they see as a group of related futurist philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism. [7] They first used the term in a paper about artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the risk that a race towards developing such a technology would instead produce models that harm marginalized groups and concentrate power. [5] Torres continued to write extensively about the group of philosophies, and about how they intersect with emerging approaches to the development of artificial intelligence. [13] They have criticized TESCREAL adherents for viewing AGI as a technological solution to issues like climate change and access to education, while ignoring political, social, or economic factors. [14] They have expressed concern over the prominence of longtermist and other TESCREAL ideologies in the tech industry. [15]
Sociologist, transhumanist, and bioethicist James J. Hughes wrote a blog post with Eli Sennesh in June 2023 characterizing the TESCREAL analysis of futurist ideas and people as a conspiracy theory. They write: "These new left conspiracists cast all futurist philosophies together under the acronym of TESCREAL, linked in their minds to eugenics and racism. Again, there is a web of facts underlying their fantasies, ... But reducing two hundred years of intellectual history and political reality to the sloppy musings of a handful of tech bros and a tenuous web of guilt by association is seriously misleading" [16][ better source needed] Torres has rejected the description. [17]
Torres has also been described as a critic of techno-optimism. [18]
Torres has also spoken extensively about artificial intelligence, and has advocated for more focus on AI harms including intellectual property theft, algorithmic bias, and concentration of wealth in technology corporations. [12] They have also argued that it is noteworthy that climate change is not one of the primary concerns of longtermists. According to Torres, although longtermists acknowledge that climate change could cause millions of deaths, they don't view it as an existential threat because they believe that those with access to significant resources will be able to survive. [19] [20] Although effective altruism and a newer philosophy known as effective accelerationism have been described as opposing sides of the argument on how to approach developing artificial intelligence, Torres has opined that the two groups are in fact very similar, and characterized the conflict as a "family dispute". "What's missing is all of the questions that AI ethicists are asking about algorithmic bias, discrimination, the environmental impact of [AI systems], and so on," Torres told The Independent. [21]
In 2023, Torres became a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University's Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence. [22] Also in 2023, Routledge published Torres' Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. [1] The book posits that the rise of Christianity, along with Christianity's focus on salvation, removed the topic of human extinction from public discourse. They argue that concerns around human extinction have re-emerged amid increasing secularism. [1] [23]
Torres has published articles in popular media including The Washington Post and Current Affairs, [24] [25] and is a contributing writer to Salon and Truthdig. [26] [27]
Torres is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. [1] They are also a musician and audio engineer, and have published music under the name Baobob. [4]