Possible claim 2: “We should stop giving independent researchers and nonprofits money to do AGI-x-risk-mitigating research, because academia is better.” You didn’t exactly say this, but sorta imply it. I disagree.
I don’t agree with possible claim 2. I just say that we should promote academic careers more than independent researching, not that we should stop giving them money. I don’t think money is the issue.
OK, thanks for clarifying. So my proposal would be: if a person wants to do / found / fund an AGI-x-risk-mitigating research project, they should consider their background, their situation, the specific nature of the research project, etc., and decide on a case-by-case basis whether the best home for that research project is academia (e.g. CHAI) versus industry (e.g. DeepMind, Anthropic) versus nonprofits (e.g. MIRI) versus independent research. And a priori, it could be any of those. Do you agree with that?
Hi Steven,
I don’t agree with possible claim 2. I just say that we should promote academic careers more than independent researching, not that we should stop giving them money. I don’t think money is the issue.
Thanks
OK, thanks for clarifying. So my proposal would be: if a person wants to do / found / fund an AGI-x-risk-mitigating research project, they should consider their background, their situation, the specific nature of the research project, etc., and decide on a case-by-case basis whether the best home for that research project is academia (e.g. CHAI) versus industry (e.g. DeepMind, Anthropic) versus nonprofits (e.g. MIRI) versus independent research. And a priori, it could be any of those. Do you agree with that?
Yes, I do indeed :)
You can frame it if you want as: founders should aim to expand the range of academic opportunities, and engage more with academics.