It’s entirely possible to go into alignment work 10 or 15 years from now. If you spend the next decade working at tech companies, working with AI, or starting a company, you’re going to end that time with a ton of useful skills that you can bring to alignment research if you want to. But you’ll also have flexibility to work on other problems too.
My advice: pursue profit-driven work when you’re young, come back to direct EA work when you’re more experienced.
It’s entirely possible to go into alignment work 10 or 15 years from now. If you spend the next decade working at tech companies, working with AI, or starting a company, you’re going to end that time with a ton of useful skills that you can bring to alignment research if you want to. But you’ll also have flexibility to work on other problems too.
My advice: pursue profit-driven work when you’re young, come back to direct EA work when you’re more experienced.