Thanks so much for your insights. Can’t really argue with what you say here: I think you articulated the idea of subtlety and the importance of correct application with humor far better than I did. Admittedly, John Oliver is an extreme example of humor, perhaps so extreme as to be unhelpful as a model for EA. Overall, maybe my use of the word “humor” in this post was too strong. I really liked Tiger Lava Lamp’s comment below on “microhumor,” which Scott Alexander describes as “things that aren’t a joke in the laugh-out-loud told-by-a-comedian sense, but still put the tiniest ghost of a smile on your reader’s face while they’re skimming through them.” This seems to be a more accurate description of the MacAskill and Karnosfky examples I gave. It seems like we both have a sense that something like Alexander’s microhumor can fall within EA’s humor threshold and be an effective tool for EA to an extent.
SWK
X-risk discussion in a college commencement speech
EA needs more humor
AI-Relevant Regulation: CERN
AI-Relevant Regulation: IAEA
AI-Relevant Regulation: Insurance in Safety-Critical Industries
AI-Relevant Regulation: CPSC
Love this example, thanks so much for sharing it. I know I mention John Oliver above, but realistically his style is almost certainly too extreme to be replicated in most cases by most people. I agree that Alexander’s microhumor is a perfect example of subtle humor that could potentially be employed in almost any context.
I appreciate the optimism, and I sure hope you’re right. It took me a while to understand and accept the importance of x-risk mitigation, especially for AI, so I should really be more empathetic. And as others have noted, Santos’ presentation wasn’t great in terms of his accuracy and phrasing, so I would love to see people use this speech as a starting point to seek out more accurate assessments of the risks he discussed.
Very fair points. I guess since I agreed with the general gist of Santos’ message (and was generally just surprised that he was talking about this stuff in the first place) I looked past the presentation at the time. Looking back, Santos definitely used some language that makes his arguments more difficult to take seriously.
Thanks for sharing this post, I absolutely agree. Hopefully critics of EA can come to see the genuinely warm-hearted motivations that I think most EAs have.
Thank you for this perspective! Once again, I think you’ve expressed better than I did the connection between humor and humility. I love all of your historical examples as well; it has me thinking that, rather than following current examples of comedy, looking further back in the past might be an even more fruitful approach to getting inspiration for EA-applicable humor that has stood the test of time.
Wow, can’t believe I haven’t seen this before. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your comment, and I agree with your points. I definitely should have noted Santos’ unfortunate use of the Doomsday Clock to frame his speech. This was, in hindsight, a sure way undermine his message both for people familiar or unacquainted with x-risk ideas.