I’ve just been reading this post as part of the BlueDot AI Safety Fundamentals training.
I am very sympathetic to the thinking behind this, and at the same time very conscious of the challenges.
It’s a feeling that I get over and over as I learn more about AI Safety—that there are things that the world “should” be doing, that the world would be doing if it were a well-run corporation with a competent CEO (or a benevolent dictator …), but that these things are unlikely to happen in the real world because we have such difficulties agreeing on principles and then deciding quickly on tangible actions (unless they involve using very expensive weapons to attack people, when we tend to decide much faster …).
I know this article will cause some great discussions in our next BlueDot cohort meetings, and the 330+ upvotes clearly show you’ve really got a lot of people thinking about this.
But I would like to comment on another aspect of this post: It is absolutely beautifully written.
It makes the points in crystal-clear, simple language. The structure is logical. There are countless examples to ensure each point is well understood. If I were to disagree with anything, it would be very easy to pinpoint exactly what I’m disagreeing with, because it is so well-structured.
But more than that, even, it’s just a joy to read, with even the occasional joke to keep the readers on their toes. I never imagined I’d reach the end of a 45-minute read and almost wish it were longer.
Most posts on EA forum are very well written. The standards for clarity and coherence and precision are very high. But a few, like this one, are just beautiful, and make me wish that they could be shared with a much broader audience, beyond the EA community.
I know that great writing takes work, so thank you for this post!
I’ve just been reading this post as part of the BlueDot AI Safety Fundamentals training.
I am very sympathetic to the thinking behind this, and at the same time very conscious of the challenges.
It’s a feeling that I get over and over as I learn more about AI Safety—that there are things that the world “should” be doing, that the world would be doing if it were a well-run corporation with a competent CEO (or a benevolent dictator …), but that these things are unlikely to happen in the real world because we have such difficulties agreeing on principles and then deciding quickly on tangible actions (unless they involve using very expensive weapons to attack people, when we tend to decide much faster …).
I know this article will cause some great discussions in our next BlueDot cohort meetings, and the 330+ upvotes clearly show you’ve really got a lot of people thinking about this.
But I would like to comment on another aspect of this post: It is absolutely beautifully written.
It makes the points in crystal-clear, simple language. The structure is logical. There are countless examples to ensure each point is well understood. If I were to disagree with anything, it would be very easy to pinpoint exactly what I’m disagreeing with, because it is so well-structured.
But more than that, even, it’s just a joy to read, with even the occasional joke to keep the readers on their toes. I never imagined I’d reach the end of a 45-minute read and almost wish it were longer.
Most posts on EA forum are very well written. The standards for clarity and coherence and precision are very high. But a few, like this one, are just beautiful, and make me wish that they could be shared with a much broader audience, beyond the EA community.
I know that great writing takes work, so thank you for this post!