Co-Authors: @yams, @Carson Jones, @McKennaFitzgerald, @Ryan Kidd MATS tracks the evolving landscape of AI safety[1] to ensure that our program continues to meet the talent needs of safety teams. As the field has grown, it’s become increasingly necessary to adopt a more formal approach to this monitoring, since relying on...
If you’re working in alignment research, or would like to be, and you would like help finding researchers with whom to collaborate, this event is for you. Inspired by the structure of a speed-dating event, participants will spend the first two hours in short one-on-one conversations with each other, changing...
(Epistemic Status: Anecdotal) If we want to reduce AGI x-risk, it seems pretty intuitive to me that alignment researchers should be regularly dedicating time to improving their research capacity. But I'm suspicious that many of them don't do this. Am I wrong? I would love to know if I am....
Co-Authors: @yams, @Carson Jones, @McKennaFitzgerald, @Ryan Kidd
MATS tracks the evolving landscape of AI safety[1] to ensure that our program continues to meet the talent needs of safety teams. As the field has grown, it’s become increasingly necessary to adopt a more formal approach to this monitoring, since relying on a few individuals to intuitively understand the dynamics of such a vast ecosystem could lead to significant missteps.[2]
In the winter and spring of 2024, we conducted 31 interviews, ranging in length from 30 to 120 minutes, with key figures in AI safety, including senior researchers, organization leaders, social scientists, strategists, funders, and policy experts. This report synthesizes the key insights from these discussions. The overarching... (read 4127 more words →)
If you’re working in alignment research, or would like to be, and you would like help finding researchers with whom to collaborate, this event is for you.
Inspired by the structure of a speed-dating event, participants will spend the first two hours in short one-on-one conversations with each other, changing partners at regular intervals, all for the goal of assessing fit as collaborators. The event will end with one hour of free-for-all socializing.
Please RSVP through Eventbrite or Facebook:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/688222332896562/
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alignment-collaborator-speed-meeting-tickets-490832281567
The event will take place at Constellation, on Jan 14, 2023.
Instructions for access:
Upon arrival at the building (at the Shattuck Ave. entrance) text phone number (510) 213-8521, and one of the event hosts will come down to let you up. Feel free to arrive as soon as 2:45 PM.
Thanks for your thoughts here!
So I do have some familiarity with the concept of deliberate practice, and I would definitely include that as part of the thing I'm talking about above. But I can also think of things that might improve a researcher's capacity that don't fall under deliberate practice.
1. One researcher told me they were having frequent interruptions to their focused working time as a result of their work environment, so they made some adjustments to their work environment to prevent that. I don't think I'd call that deliberate practice, but it does seem like a big improvement.
2. Motivation/procrastination. This is probably the single biggest complaint I've heard from researchers. To the extent that they find a solution to this, it probably won't end up being something in the category of "deliberate practice". It will probably look like creating incentives for themselves, or introspecting on their own preferences and motivations, or creating accountability mechanisms, etc.
If there are any alignment researchers reading this who think they would benefit from having someone to talk to about improving their research capacity, I’m happy to be that person.
I’m offering free debugging-style conversations about improving research capacity to any alignment researchers who want them. Here’s my calendly link if you’d like to grab time on my calendar: https://calendly.com/dcjones15/60min .
I’m not claiming to have any answers or ready made solutions. I primarily add value by asking questions to elicit your own thoughts and help you come up with your own improvement plans that address your specific needs. A number of researchers have told me these conversations are productive for them, so the same may be true for you.
(Epistemic Status: Anecdotal)
If we want to reduce AGI x-risk, it seems pretty intuitive to me that alignment researchers should be regularly dedicating time to improving their research capacity. But I'm suspicious that many of them don't do this.
Am I wrong? I would love to know if I am.
(I'm using the phrase "research capacity" vaguely, to mean both research skill and productivity.)
Over the last 3 - 4 years, I've had something like 12 - 20 informal conversations with researchers at various alignment orgs on the subject of how they improve their research capacity. In these conversations, I'd ask questions like "How do you personally go about getting better at research?", or "What have... (read 780 more words →)
I'm not new to reading LessWrong, but I am new to posting or commenting here. I plan to be more active in the future. I care about the cause of AI Alignment, and am currently in the process of shifting my career from low-level operations work at MIRI to something I think may be more impactful:
I.e. supporting alignment researchers in their efforts to level up in research effectiveness, by offering myself as a conversational partner to help them think through their own up-leveling plans.
In that spirit, here's an offer I'd like to make to any interested alignment researchers who come across this comment.
The Offer
Free debugging-style conversations (could be just one, or recurring)... (read more)
Thanks, that helps!
These monthly threads and Stampy sound like they'll be great resources for learning about alignment research.
I'd like to know about as many resources as possible for supporting and guiding my own alignment research self-study process. (And by resources, I guess I don't just mean more stuff to read; I mean organizations or individuals you can talk to for guidance on how to move forward in one's self-education).
Could someone provide a link to a page that attempts to gather links to all such resources in one place?
I already saw the Stampy answer to "Where Can I Learn About AI Alignment?". Is that pretty comprehensive, or are there many more resources?