Interestingly, the belief that there is an X-risk from AI might not be all that niche, relative to the US public as whole, though obviously Open Phil probably has other views that are niche in that context:
‘A majority (55%) of Americans are now worried at least somewhat that artificially intelligent machines could one day pose a risk to the human race’s existence. ’ Of course, it’s unclear exactly what “could” means in this sort of context. But Monmouth is a reputable pollster I think(?) and not everyone at Open Phil. is a Yudkowsky style doomer who thinks doom is near certain.
Not that this means your wrong to say they are niche in “the field”, whatever exactly that is. (And to be clear, I actually am inclined to agree that having judges from outside Open Phil. with different views would be in theory an improvement.)
EDIT: To be clear, I personally think it is very unlikely (maybe 1 in 1000) that we will go extinct because of misaligned AI by 2100, so I’m not just defending a view I hold here.
Interestingly, the belief that there is an X-risk from AI might not be all that niche, relative to the US public as whole, though obviously Open Phil probably has other views that are niche in that context:
https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_021523/
‘A majority (55%) of Americans are now worried at least somewhat that artificially intelligent machines could one day pose a risk to the human race’s existence. ’ Of course, it’s unclear exactly what “could” means in this sort of context. But Monmouth is a reputable pollster I think(?) and not everyone at Open Phil. is a Yudkowsky style doomer who thinks doom is near certain.
Not that this means your wrong to say they are niche in “the field”, whatever exactly that is. (And to be clear, I actually am inclined to agree that having judges from outside Open Phil. with different views would be in theory an improvement.)
EDIT: To be clear, I personally think it is very unlikely (maybe 1 in 1000) that we will go extinct because of misaligned AI by 2100, so I’m not just defending a view I hold here.