Indeed. Getting in early in the debate also means taking on extra responsibility when it comes to framing and being able to respond to critics. It is not something we take lightly.
Our current strategy is to start with technological unemployment and experiment, build capacity & network with that first before taking on ASI, similar to your suggestion.
This also fits with the election cycle here as there is a provincial election in Ontario in 2018 (which has more jurisdiction over labour policies) before the federal one in 2019 (where foreign policy/global governance is addressed).
The challenge remains that no one knows when the issue of ASI will become mainstream. There are rumours of an “Inconvenient Truth”-type documentary on ASI coming out soon, and with Elon Musk regularly making news and the plethora of books & TED talks being produced, no one has the time to wait for a perfect message, team or strategy. Some messiness will have to be tolerated (as is always the case in politics).
Hi Dony,
Great questions! My name is Wyatt Tessari and I am the founder.
1) We are doing that right now. Consultations is a top priority for us before we start our advocacy efforts. It’s also part of the reason we’re reaching out here.
2) Our main comparative advantage is that (to the best of our research) there is no one else in the political/advocacy sphere openly talking about the issue in Canada. If there are better organisations than us, where are they? We’d gladly join or collaborate with them.
3) There are plenty of risks—causing fear or misunderstanding, getting hijacked by personalities or adjacent causes, causing backlash or counterproductive behaviour—but the reality is they exist anyway. The general public will eventually clue in to the stakes around ASI and AI safety and the best we can do is get in early in the debate, frame it as constructively as possible, and provide people with tools (petitions, campaigns) that will be an effective outlet for their concerns.
4) This is a tough question. There would likely be a number of metrics—feedback from AI & governance experts, popular support (or lack thereof), and a healthy dose of ongoing critical thought. But if you (or anyone else reading this) has better ideas we’d love to hear them.
In any case, thanks again for your questions and we’d love to hear more (that’s how we’re hoping to grow...).