People talk about "democratising" AI. I prefer the term "despotising" AI. That is, uploading the weights on the internet so that despots around the world can download AI to use to oppress their people in a permissionless fashion. Even better (for the despots, at least), it doesn't just provide them with the tools to oppress their population, but it also provides them with an credible excuse to do so. After all, with the right AI tools individuals are more than capable of causing significant harm. The despots don't just get to oppress their populations, they also get to present themselves as heroes for doing so.
Just thought I'd share my essay, which won a runner-up prize in the Manifund Essay Competition on Building the EA/AI Safety Scene in San Francisco with you in case it is of any use (I tried to PM you, but I ran into a bug).
Obviously, take it with a massive grain of salt: 1) I don't live in SF 2) you've actually been running things in SF which is much more informative than just theorising about what should be done like I did with my post 3) The best strategy for you to pursue is highly contingent on your own individual skills and fit.
At AI StopWatch, we typically post between two and five times a day, seven days a week. Every evening, we compile the day’s posts — which are low on jargon, high on water cooler discussability (we hope) — into an email-friendly “Daily Digest,” which we also release as a ~10-20 minute audio podcast a few hours later.
I would guess that would be very resource-intensive. How much FTE staff do you have working on this?
Someone really needs to create a course based on Will's EA in the Age of AGI: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/R8AAG4QBZi5puvogR/effective-altruism-in-the-age-of-agi
Using the term "cult" in in a purported terminology post isn't helpful.
I know it's annoying, but I would have suggested splitting this into two posts, one introducing the terminology in a neutral fashion and another where you use the terminology to make your criticism.
I think I might have previously posted this as a comment on another post, but I'll share here as well:
"Recently I’ve been thinking about how the EA community is not what it used to be and how it’s unlikely to ever be like that again (EA resonated strongly in a social context that no longer exists). But, of course, there’s a saying ‘when one door closes, another opens’. This leads to the question: ’What could EA be instead?’.
“But a community that took twenty years to develop its particular structure of norms and mutual knowledge cannot be regrown in twenty years, because the conditions that shaped it no longer exist. The people are older, the context has changed, and the specific convergance of circumstances that brought those particular individuals together in that particular configuration at that particular time is gone. Communities are path-dependent in the strongest possible sense: their current state is a function of their entire history, and you can’t rerun the history.”
Contexts change and what resonates during one time period is different from what resonates in another.”
I can see two paths forward: • Defining a new vision for where we find ourselves today • Managed decline[1]
People talk about "democratising" AI. I prefer the term "despotising" AI. That is, uploading the weights on the internet so that despots around the world can download AI to use to oppress their people in a permissionless fashion. Even better (for the despots, at least), it doesn't just provide them with the tools to oppress their population, but it also provides them with an credible excuse to do so. After all, with the right AI tools individuals are more than capable of causing significant harm. The despots don't just get to oppress their populations, they also get to present themselves as heroes for doing so.
Money can help bootstrap prestige.
Hey Jen,
Just thought I'd share my essay, which won a runner-up prize in the Manifund Essay Competition on Building the EA/AI Safety Scene in San Francisco with you in case it is of any use (I tried to PM you, but I ran into a bug).
Obviously, take it with a massive grain of salt: 1) I don't live in SF 2) you've actually been running things in SF which is much more informative than just theorising about what should be done like I did with my post 3) The best strategy for you to pursue is highly contingent on your own individual skills and fit.
Best,
Chris
I would guess that would be very resource-intensive. How much FTE staff do you have working on this?
Is this US only?
80% chance I can add a few comments if someone produces a draft curriculum. (Alternatively, I might be able to join a call).
Someone really needs to create a course based on Will's EA in the Age of AGI: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/R8AAG4QBZi5puvogR/effective-altruism-in-the-age-of-agi
Using the term "cult" in in a purported terminology post isn't helpful.
I know it's annoying, but I would have suggested splitting this into two posts, one introducing the terminology in a neutral fashion and another where you use the terminology to make your criticism.
There's been a massive wave of AI×biosec programs recently. I uncertain how fast this can be scaled up, then again, this isn't my area.
I think I might have previously posted this as a comment on another post, but I'll share here as well:
"Recently I’ve been thinking about how the EA community is not what it used to be and how it’s unlikely to ever be like that again (EA resonated strongly in a social context that no longer exists). But, of course, there’s a saying ‘when one door closes, another opens’. This leads to the question: ’What could EA be instead?’.
I'll quote from Communities are Not Fungible:
“But a community that took twenty years to develop its particular structure of norms and mutual knowledge cannot be regrown in twenty years, because the conditions that shaped it no longer exist. The people are older, the context has changed, and the specific convergance of circumstances that brought those particular individuals together in that particular configuration at that particular time is gone. Communities are path-dependent in the strongest possible sense: their current state is a function of their entire history, and you can’t rerun the history.”
Contexts change and what resonates during one time period is different from what resonates in another.”
I can see two paths forward:
• Defining a new vision for where we find ourselves today
• Managed decline[1]
Which sounds bad, but sometimes may actually be the best strategy.