There was consensus that it would be good if CEA replaced one of its (currently) three annual conferences with a conference that’s explicitly framed as being about x-risk or AI-risk focused conference.
In response to a corresponding prompt (“ … at least one of the EAGs should get replaced by an x-risk or AI-risk focused conference …”)
I’m curious if you felt the thrust was that the group thought it’s good if CEA in particular replace the activity of running its 3rd EAG with running an AI safety conference, or that there should be an AI safety conference?
In general when we talk about ‘cause area specific field building’, the purpose that makes most sense to me is to build a community around those cause areas, which people who don’t buy the whole EA philosophy can join if they spot a legible cause they think is worthwhile working on.
I’m a little hesitant to default to repurpose existing EA institutions, communities and events to house the proposed cause area specific field building. It seems to me that the main benefit of cause area specific field building is to potentially build something new, fresh and separate from the other cultural norms and beliefs that the EA community brings with it.
Perhaps the crux for me is “is this a conference for EAs interested in AI safety, or is it a conference for anyone interested in AI safety?” If the latter, this points away from an EA-affiliated conference (though I appreciate there are pragmatic questions around “who else would do it”). A fresh feel and new audience might still be achievable in the case that CEA runs the conference ops, but I imagine it would be important to bear in mind during CEA’s branding, outreach and choices made during the execution of such a conference.
Thanks for the post!
I’m curious if you felt the thrust was that the group thought it’s good if CEA in particular replace the activity of running its 3rd EAG with running an AI safety conference, or that there should be an AI safety conference?
In general when we talk about ‘cause area specific field building’, the purpose that makes most sense to me is to build a community around those cause areas, which people who don’t buy the whole EA philosophy can join if they spot a legible cause they think is worthwhile working on.
I’m a little hesitant to default to repurpose existing EA institutions, communities and events to house the proposed cause area specific field building. It seems to me that the main benefit of cause area specific field building is to potentially build something new, fresh and separate from the other cultural norms and beliefs that the EA community brings with it.
Perhaps the crux for me is “is this a conference for EAs interested in AI safety, or is it a conference for anyone interested in AI safety?” If the latter, this points away from an EA-affiliated conference (though I appreciate there are pragmatic questions around “who else would do it”). A fresh feel and new audience might still be achievable in the case that CEA runs the conference ops, but I imagine it would be important to bear in mind during CEA’s branding, outreach and choices made during the execution of such a conference.