The first step on this path is usually to pursue a PhD in machine learning at a good school.
Just want to add that I’ve heard from a few folks that this may be less true today — most recently in this 80k episode with Jan Leike:
Jan Leike: There’s a lot of different backgrounds that are applicable here. Machine learning PhDs have been the traditional way people get into the field, especially if you want to do something more researchy. I don’t think you need that at all. And in fact, if you’re thinking about starting a PhD now, I don’t know if you’ll have that much time. You should just go work on the problem now.
I wonder if it might be worth adding a bit more context about other options, and the opportunity costs of starting a PhD at this point given plausible AI timelines.
Just want to add that I’ve heard from a few folks that this may be less true today — most recently in this 80k episode with Jan Leike:
I wonder if it might be worth adding a bit more context about other options, and the opportunity costs of starting a PhD at this point given plausible AI timelines.