It’s unclear to me that having EA people starting an AI startup is more tractable than convincing other people that the work is worth funding
Yeah, this is unclear to me to. But you can encourage lots of people to pursue earn-to-give paths (maybe a few will succeed). Not many are in a position to persuade people, and more people having this as an explicit goal seems dangerous.
Also, as an undergraduate student with short timelines, the startup path seems like a better fit.
I don’t see how the flexibility of money makes any difference? Isn’t it frustratingly difficult to predict which uses of money will actually be useful for AI safety? In that case, you still have the same problem.
I have to make important career decisions right now. It’s hard to know what will be useful in the future, but it seems likely that money will be. I could have made that point clearer.
Yeah, this is unclear to me to. But you can encourage lots of people to pursue earn-to-give paths (maybe a few will succeed). Not many are in a position to persuade people, and more people having this as an explicit goal seems dangerous.
Also, as an undergraduate student with short timelines, the startup path seems like a better fit.
I have to make important career decisions right now. It’s hard to know what will be useful in the future, but it seems likely that money will be. I could have made that point clearer.