BLUF:
* To determine whether AI is ‘improving exponentially’, ‘hitting the wall’, or any other claim which involves a quantity or magnitude (e.g. ‘This model was a big leap/small increment’). We need a good y-axis: an interval scale of AI capability which means +1 unit always represents the same degree of ‘how much better’, in the same way +1 degree Celsius is always the same amount of ‘how much hotter’.
* Yet there is no good y-axis for AI capability. All our...
Summary
* The animal welfare movement has already seen an influx in funding and should prepare for the possibility of more.
* The EA Animal Welfare Fund is encouraging those working in animal advocacy to actively set aside time and resources now to concretely plan for scaling sustainably, and we’ll support you in doing that.
* We’re requesting advocates set concrete ambitious goals and submit plans t...
Public service announcement
1. Applications are now open for our first ever round of the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program dedicated exclusively to animal welfare. Learn more about what’s different this round here and apply...
A natural setting for the Long Reflection:
Space colonization. If the speed of light is at all binding, then spacefarers will spend thousands/millions/billions+ of years in transit in a (likely) resource constrained environment. Why not engage in the Long Reflection then?
This is especially relevant as these people will be able to restructure society as they see fit. This could also be a reason to put slightly more weight on space colonization as a pathway to existential security—it fosters moral progress & safeguards humanity.
Some might be concerned that space travel/colonization itself is something that should be reflected upon before anyone embarks on the journey. But this is not such a big obstacle. If our spacefaring long reflectors determine along the way that space colonization is bad, they can simply turn back home or, worst case, self-destruct.