Toby Ord - What is the greatest threat to humanity?

At the same time as the Covid-19 pandemic began sweeping the world Australian moral philosopher Toby Ord released his book calculating the possibility of the end of humanity. In The Precipice he weighs up scenarios that could contribute to our downfall. From the man-made threats of climate change and nuclear war, to the potentially greater, more unfamiliar threats from engineered pandemics and advanced artificial intelligence. A research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, and a Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at Oxford University, Ord is (like his compatriot Peter Singer) a leading light in the 'effective altruism' movement which encourages people to use evidence to help others as much as possible. He co-founded the movement in 2009 with William MacAskill, and has created an international society called Giving What We Can, whose members have pledged over $1.5 billion.