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Last time I looked at what EAs actually donate to, a lot more of it looks like "conventional human welfare issues" than you might think. I guess sci-fi thought

by Joeboy 4y ago

Last time I looked at what EAs actually donate to, a lot more of it looks like "conventional human welfare issues" than you might think. I guess sci-fi thought experiments are more accessible and fun than deworming or whatever, so they occupy a disproportionate amount of conversation.

morelisp 4y ago
It's also the only part the rich loud ones are focused on. Musk has an awful to tweet about AGI risk and not so much deworming (or, a more poignant example, the Flint water crisis; or, a more direct example, Tesla's sales fraud leading to non-G AIs killing people). For the record, I don't think people like Musk, or, say, Andreesen or Altman are EAs themselves. But they are the kings picking court jesters like Yudkowsky who then have the resources to (re)define the movement.
- rbanffy 4y ago
  I believe the first big risk of AI is job loss due to automation and the consequences of that for economies. There is a point we run out of bullshit jobs. Also capitalism’s cyclic nature is getting more turbulent as cycles become shorter and start interfering with previous and future ones.
- jefftk 4y ago
  I don't think Yudkowsky's influence in EA has much to do with Musk or Altman. His LessWrong blogging was already pretty widely read within EA ten years ago. (I would also say his influence has decreased a lot over that time, as he is writing much less now, and there are a lot of other voices on AI risk.)
rbanffy 4y ago
> more accessible and fun than deworming It makes sense. We know how to deworm. That is an execution problem. The ones I find more interesting are in planning stages, such as how to we fix or supersede capitalism, how do we mitigate climate change, how do we persuade people in power those things need to be done before the problem is so big it becomes intractable.
- morelisp 4y ago
  "It's interesting to discuss until I actually have to do it", the lament of incompetent dilettantes throughout history.
  - jefftk 4y ago
    EAs have donated tens of millions of dollars to deworming charities
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    There isn’t much to discuss about it. It’s already in execution phase and the biggest issues are logistics. There are people who are interested in that, but discussions on things that are still conceptual is usually a lot more interesting and challenging.
- sweeneyrod 4y ago
  Actually it's very controversial if we should spend marginal resources on deworming. It may have very large economic benefits, but the evidence isn't clear (https://unherd.com/2020/08/what-worms-can-teach-us-about-the-ai-apocalypse/ https://unherd.com/2020/08/what-worms-can-teach-us-about-the... has some details).

by Joeboy 4y ago

morelisp 4y ago

It's also the only part the rich loud ones are focused on. Musk has an awful to tweet about AGI risk and not so much deworming (or, a more poignant example, the Flint water crisis; or, a more direct example, Tesla's sales fraud leading to non-G AIs killing people). For the record, I don't think people like Musk, or, say, Andreesen or Altman are EAs themselves. But they are the kings picking court jesters like Yudkowsky who then have the resources to (re)define the movement.

rbanffy 4y ago
I believe the first big risk of AI is job loss due to automation and the consequences of that for economies. There is a point we run out of bullshit jobs. Also capitalism’s cyclic nature is getting more turbulent as cycles become shorter and start interfering with previous and future ones.
jefftk 4y ago
I don't think Yudkowsky's influence in EA has much to do with Musk or Altman. His LessWrong blogging was already pretty widely read within EA ten years ago. (I would also say his influence has decreased a lot over that time, as he is writing much less now, and there are a lot of other voices on AI risk.)

rbanffy 4y ago

> more accessible and fun than deworming It makes sense. We know how to deworm. That is an execution problem. The ones I find more interesting are in planning stages, such as how to we fix or supersede capitalism, how do we mitigate climate change, how do we persuade people in power those things need to be done before the problem is so big it becomes intractable.

morelisp 4y ago
"It's interesting to discuss until I actually have to do it", the lament of incompetent dilettantes throughout history.
- jefftk 4y ago
  EAs have donated tens of millions of dollars to deworming charities
- rbanffy 4y ago
  There isn’t much to discuss about it. It’s already in execution phase and the biggest issues are logistics. There are people who are interested in that, but discussions on things that are still conceptual is usually a lot more interesting and challenging.
sweeneyrod 4y ago
Actually it's very controversial if we should spend marginal resources on deworming. It may have very large economic benefits, but the evidence isn't clear (https://unherd.com/2020/08/what-worms-can-teach-us-about-the-ai-apocalypse/ https://unherd.com/2020/08/what-worms-can-teach-us-about-the... has some details).