fully remote work (I miss chatting with coworkers irl)
no senior longtermist researchers
Going into problem-solving mode here, but have you considered setting up physical office space somewhere (SF/DC/Ox/Lon)? Trying to share office space with other longtermist researchers?
The short answer is that I don’t actually miss having coworkers more than I like having no commute etc.
Though I’ve considered WeWorking with Ozzie from QURI etc but never got around to it.
Something that makes coordination a bit harder is that the Lightcone team in Berkeley has set up a pretty good space for AI alignment people so many of the people I might want to cowork with already have a really good BATNA.
I think this might change if RP hires longtermists from the Bay Area and we can have a nucleus of actual coworkers here, or alternatively if people congregate in Oxford I might move to join Michael A et al.
I personally didn’t mind being fully remote for a while when I was in Australia, though I do think many/most people benefit somewhat from in-person (holding other factors constant, e.g. ignoring that some people can’t/won’t move and that commuting sucks).
In light of the imperfections of remote work, Rethink recently introduced:
“a stipend of $2000 annually per staff member to staff to work in the same location as other staff. This can be coordinated however you please (in a reasonably cost minimizing way), and can cover travel, lodging, and food for the trip. To use the benefit, you can coordinate with folks, then get approval from your manager. Then just request [staff member] to purchase flights, etc. or submit a reimbursement request. Please take all appropriate COVID precautions (ensuring everyone is vaccinated, getting rapid tests if available).”
(Copied from a Slack message)
I think Rethink usually have one or two in-person staff retreats a year, though this has been disrupted by COVID and I only joined last November, so other people would know more. (This year we’ll have remote “retreats” instead, due to COVID.)
People at Rethink definitely can cowork with other Rethink people or EAs if they want, and this does happen.
E.g., the moral weight team travel to spend a day or so together every few months, or something like that.
E.g., some of the ops people seem to visit each other sometimes, as multiple of them are located around Philadelphia.
E.g., I work at Trajan House (the building that contains FHI, GPI, GovAI, CEA, Forethought, and often other EA stuff) because I work part-time with FHI as well.
One of my interns also did their Rethink work from Trajan House, aided by being a ~5hr/week contractor for CEA (but they were clearly at Trajan for much more than 5hr/week).
I’m very confident I’ll be able to continue working at Trajan House after I leave FHI (though not yet sure if I’ll be able to get a space in an office or “just” in a coworking space), at least for a while.
I feel fairly confident that other Rethink employees who wanted to work at Trajan House could do so as well, at least for a while.
As Linch indicates, I think this will probably become more common as Rethink grows, especially if that growth turns out to be somewhat concentrated in some places (most likely Oxbridge and/or the Bay Area in the case of the longtermism team)
Going into problem-solving mode here, but have you considered setting up physical office space somewhere (SF/DC/Ox/Lon)? Trying to share office space with other longtermist researchers?
The short answer is that I don’t actually miss having coworkers more than I like having no commute etc.
Though I’ve considered WeWorking with Ozzie from QURI etc but never got around to it.
Something that makes coordination a bit harder is that the Lightcone team in Berkeley has set up a pretty good space for AI alignment people so many of the people I might want to cowork with already have a really good BATNA.
I think this might change if RP hires longtermists from the Bay Area and we can have a nucleus of actual coworkers here, or alternatively if people congregate in Oxford I might move to join Michael A et al.
Some things to add to Linch’s comment:
I personally didn’t mind being fully remote for a while when I was in Australia, though I do think many/most people benefit somewhat from in-person (holding other factors constant, e.g. ignoring that some people can’t/won’t move and that commuting sucks).
In light of the imperfections of remote work, Rethink recently introduced:
“a stipend of $2000 annually per staff member to staff to work in the same location as other staff. This can be coordinated however you please (in a reasonably cost minimizing way), and can cover travel, lodging, and food for the trip. To use the benefit, you can coordinate with folks, then get approval from your manager. Then just request [staff member] to purchase flights, etc. or submit a reimbursement request.
Please take all appropriate COVID precautions (ensuring everyone is vaccinated, getting rapid tests if available).”
(Copied from a Slack message)
I think Rethink usually have one or two in-person staff retreats a year, though this has been disrupted by COVID and I only joined last November, so other people would know more. (This year we’ll have remote “retreats” instead, due to COVID.)
People at Rethink definitely can cowork with other Rethink people or EAs if they want, and this does happen.
E.g., the moral weight team travel to spend a day or so together every few months, or something like that.
E.g., some of the ops people seem to visit each other sometimes, as multiple of them are located around Philadelphia.
E.g., I work at Trajan House (the building that contains FHI, GPI, GovAI, CEA, Forethought, and often other EA stuff) because I work part-time with FHI as well.
One of my interns also did their Rethink work from Trajan House, aided by being a ~5hr/week contractor for CEA (but they were clearly at Trajan for much more than 5hr/week).
I’m very confident I’ll be able to continue working at Trajan House after I leave FHI (though not yet sure if I’ll be able to get a space in an office or “just” in a coworking space), at least for a while.
I feel fairly confident that other Rethink employees who wanted to work at Trajan House could do so as well, at least for a while.
As Linch indicates, I think this will probably become more common as Rethink grows, especially if that growth turns out to be somewhat concentrated in some places (most likely Oxbridge and/or the Bay Area in the case of the longtermism team)
Relevant: How much slower is remote work?