Short bio: Michael Anissimov is Media Director for the Singularity Institute and Co-Organizer of the Singularity Summit, an annual conference that focuses on emerging technologies like nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence. The Singularity Summit has received coverage from Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, award-winning science writer Carl Zimmer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many other media outlets. He also writes the popular futurist blog Accelerating Future, which has been featured on G4.TV and on the front page of social news sites Digg and Reddit. In his work with the Singularity Institute, Anissimov emphasizes the need for increased research into AI goal systems to develop “Friendly AI” that values human life as it approaches and eventually surpasses human intelligence. He appears in print, on podcasts, in documentaries, public speaking at conferences, and other media to spread the Institute’s message. He lives in San Francisco.

Longer bio: Michael Anissimov is Media Director for the Singularity Institute and Co-Organizer of the annual Singularity Summit. He is a science/technology writer and “futurist”, which just means someone who makes educated guesses about speculative technological probabilities. After taking a few math and science classes at the City College of San Francisco, he left in 2002 to found the Immortality Institute, a grassroots life extension advocacy organization, and do fundraising work for the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, an organization devoted to research on safe artificial intelligence. Concurrently, he pursued a freelance career in science and technology writing. To that end, he has contributed over 1,600 short factual articles to WiseGeek.com, a website that promises “clear answers for common questions”. WiseGeek received over 62 million visitors in 2008, and several of Michael’s articles are cited by the site owners as examples of ideal articles.

In January 2006, Michael expanded his capacity to inform others about the wonders of technology, intelligence, and their central significance to humanity’s future by starting a blog, Accelerating Future. Since its founding, the blog has received over six million visits and been featured on G4.TV’s Attack of the Show and SciFi.com. Posts of Michael’s have appeared on the front page of Digg and Reddit. Since appearing on the scene, Michael has received some light media coverage, being interviewed by Psychology Today in 2008 and Supreme Master Television in 2010. Throughout 2009, his articles have appeared in h+ magazine, which hit newsstands for its Fall 2009 issue. Since 2003, Michael has given talks on the risks and benefits of emerging technologies at conferences and seminars in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Palo Alto, and at Yale University, including events organized by the Foresight Institute and World Transhumanist Association.

The topics that Michael focuses the most on are artificial intelligence, molecular nanotechnology, transhumanism, intelligence enhancement, and extinction risk. He believes that humanity could rise or fall in the 21st century depending on how we handle these technologies. His views on the dangers of advanced technology are very similar to those presented by Bill Joy in his WIRED article, “Why the future doesn’t need us”, except Michael believes that relinquishment is infeasible. Instead, he advocates selective development — the acceleration of beneficial technologies (especially intelligence enhancement and Friendly AI) so that their problem-solving capabilities can be brought to bear on the risks of other advanced technologies.

Michael has been a consultant for a variety of future-oriented non-profit organizations and for-profit companies including the Methuselah Foundation, Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, and Kurzweil Technologies. On behalf of the Lifeboat Foundation and the Singularity Institute, Michael has briefed the representatives of organizations such as the US Navy and spoken informally with reporters at outlets such as The New York Times, New Scientist, Financial Times, The Guardian, and many other regional newspapers.

Michael is 26 years old and resides in a quiet part of San Francisco. He was born in Burlingame, CA, and moved to San Francisco in 2000. Around San Francisco, he enjoys hanging out at the beach, in Golden Gate Park, downtown, and on the peaks of the City’s many hills. Michael has climbed (though not necessarily summited) several mountains, including Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney in California and Mt. Elbrus in Russia. His favorite dish at the moment is curry, and his favorite ecosystem is the Hawaiian Rainforest. His ethnic background is roughly 90% Russian, 10% German/Bulgarian/Latvian.

For media inquiries and speaking requests, please email Michael at michaelanissimov(at)gmail(dot)com.