Ben Stevenson

Karma: 519

Ben Stevenson Aug 17, 2023, 10:38 AM
4 points
1 ∶ 3
on: Statement on Pluralism in Existential Risk Studies
Upvoted. Pleased to see this, Gideon et al!

Ben Stevenson Aug 16, 2023, 6:10 PM
52 points
0 ∶ 0
on: Ben Stevenson’s Quick takes
I’ve just written a blog post to summarise EA-relevant UK political news from the last ~six weeks.
The post is here: AI summit, semiconductor trade policy, and a green light for alternative proteins (substack.com)
Early November is the date for the UK’s summit on AI safety, according to leaks yesterday. Offers have been sent out for new AI Civil Service roles. British politics seems increasingly important to the AI safety world.
This is my attempt to justify the ways of Westminster to EA, and EA to Westminster. I’m spotlighting recent headlines on the AI summit, semiconductor trade policy, and alternative proteins.
I’m planning to circulate this around some EAs, but also some people working in the Civil Service, political consulting and journalism. Many might already be familiar with the stories. But I think this might be useful if I can (a) provide insightful UK political context for EAs, or (b) provide an EA perspective to curious adjacents. I’ll probably continue this if I think either (a) or (b) is paying off.
(I work at Rethink Priorities, but this is entirely in my personal capacity).

Ben Stevenson Jul 27, 2023, 5:36 PM
9 points
1 ∶ 0
on: Animal Advocacy in the Age of AI
Thanks for writing this; your resource guide is especially helpful!
I agree that we should be thinking about opportunities/harms for animals from current/near-term AI (e.g. machine vision to manage human-wildlife interactions) and from AGI/superintelligence. I’m joining the Slack channel :)
A minor quibble: I agree cultural factors might hold plant-based alternatives back even after reaching taste, texture and price parity, but I am not convinced we currently have alternatives at parity. This Metaculus question resolved ‘annulled’ and while this paper (which found no significant diff in ranking between a plant-based burger and a beef burger) is promising, it would be great to see a replication, more testing for taste and texture specifically, and widespread sales at the same price/cheaper than meat burgers – as well as all those bars cleared again by other plant-based alternatives. I look forward to seeing how AI helps alternative proteins develop.
(in a personal capacity)