Wow, it seems like a lot of people misconstrued this post as saying that we shouldn’t criticize EAs who work on cutting-edge AI capabilities. I included some confusing wording in the original version of this piece and have crossed it out. To be utterly clear, I am talking about people who work on AI safety at large AI labs.
I’m still confused, though: your key bolded “While it is fine to criticize organizations in the EA community for actions that may cause harm, EAs should avoid scrutinizing other community members’ personal career choices unless those individuals ask them for feedback” isn’t specific to “people who work on AI safety at large AI labs”? Maybe part of the reaction was people thinking you were talking about AI capabilities work, but I think part of it is also your arguments naturally applying to all sorts of harmful work?
“While it is fine to criticize organizations in the EA community for actions that may cause harm, EAs should avoid scrutinizing other community members’ personal career choices unless those individuals ask them for feedback” isn’t specific to “people who work on AI safety at large AI labs”?
That’s true. It applies to a wide range of career decisions that could be considered “harmful” or suboptimal from the point of view of EA, such as choosing to develop ML systems for a mental health startup instead of doing alignment work. (I’ve actually been told “you should work on AI safety” several times, even after I started my current job working on giving tech.)
I’m still confused, though: your key bolded “While it is fine to criticize organizations in the EA community for actions that may cause harm, EAs should avoid scrutinizing other community members’ personal career choices unless those individuals ask them for feedback” isn’t specific to “people who work on AI safety at large AI labs”? Maybe part of the reaction was people thinking you were talking about AI capabilities work, but I think part of it is also your arguments naturally applying to all sorts of harmful work?
That’s true. It applies to a wide range of career decisions that could be considered “harmful” or suboptimal from the point of view of EA, such as choosing to develop ML systems for a mental health startup instead of doing alignment work. (I’ve actually been told “you should work on AI safety” several times, even after I started my current job working on giving tech.)