Option D: dont attend any university and just get to work. The value of university degrees, even purely for signalling, are at an all-time low and descending. For learning, you can do free online video courses.
There are highly valuable tasks AI researchers dont do because they are low status / boring / hard to fund. You could get started on them independently.
You’d need a mentor at some point to avoid wasting time on irrevelant things / to hold you accountable.
I think if you are highly self-motivated, independent, and creative, this could be the best option by an order of magnitude.
The ceiling and floor for outcomes of option D are extreme. Going to university is a good hedge by raising the floor of potential outcomes. Plus, there are some non-negotiable things like having an income above a certain level—something that uni will help with, albeit after some time and school fees.
Something else to consider is that you’re based in Taiwan. This means you likely have strong command of Mandarin and could have access to Chinese universities. China is a big player in the AI space, and in terms of international relations, AI and the tech arms race is a frontier between the USA and China. I would reconsider whether the pursuit/signalling of post-grad studies in the USA is the most comparatively advantageous path for influencing AI risk.
For people who disagreed him: Just disagree, don’t downvote. Every reply takes time and should be respected. I think downvote should only be used to posts/replies that are obvi usly not serious
Option D: dont attend any university and just get to work. The value of university degrees, even purely for signalling, are at an all-time low and descending. For learning, you can do free online video courses.
There are highly valuable tasks AI researchers dont do because they are low status / boring / hard to fund. You could get started on them independently.
You’d need a mentor at some point to avoid wasting time on irrevelant things / to hold you accountable.
I think if you are highly self-motivated, independent, and creative, this could be the best option by an order of magnitude.
The ceiling and floor for outcomes of option D are extreme. Going to university is a good hedge by raising the floor of potential outcomes. Plus, there are some non-negotiable things like having an income above a certain level—something that uni will help with, albeit after some time and school fees.
Something else to consider is that you’re based in Taiwan. This means you likely have strong command of Mandarin and could have access to Chinese universities. China is a big player in the AI space, and in terms of international relations, AI and the tech arms race is a frontier between the USA and China. I would reconsider whether the pursuit/signalling of post-grad studies in the USA is the most comparatively advantageous path for influencing AI risk.
For people who disagreed him: Just disagree, don’t downvote. Every reply takes time and should be respected. I think downvote should only be used to posts/replies that are obvi usly not serious