Comment by nhinck3
2 months ago
Zero contrition. Doesn't even understand why they are getting the reaction that they are.
I would like to say this is exceptional for people who evangelise AI, but it's not.
2 months ago
Zero contrition. Doesn't even understand why they are getting the reaction that they are.
I would like to say this is exceptional for people who evangelise AI, but it's not.
It makes sense when you consider that every part of this gimmick is rationalist brained.
The Village is backed by Effective Altruist-aligned nonprofits which trace their lineage back to CFEA and the interwoven mess of SF's x-risk and """alignment""" cults. These have big pockets and big influence. (https://x.com/simonw/status/2004764454266036453
Am I losing my mind, or are these people going out of their way to tarnish the very nice concept of altruism?
From way out here, it really appears like maybe the formula is:
Effective Altruism = guilt * (contrarianism ^ online)
I have only been paying slight attention, but is there anything redeemable going on over there? Genuine question.
You mentioned "rationalist" - can anyone clue me in to any of this?
edit: oh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalist_community. Wow, my formula intuition seems almost dead on?
Apologies for replying to myself, I am fumbling in my ignorance here, and genuinely curious if anyone could share any other valuable/interesting things from this "movement." In all other cases of people calling themselves "rationalists," it has been a huge yellow flag for me, as a fallibilist. :~]
I guess Dwarkesh Patel is part of that community? Well, his interviews are quite interesting, at least in the sense of seeing into a world that I otherwise don't see regarding AI researchers, and his questions are often quite good. Also, after interviewing many leading researchers and being on the hype train, he eventually did say a few months ago ~"yeah, the 'fast take-off' is not upon us," after trying to use leading tools to make his own podcast. That's intellectual honesty that is greatly missing in this world. So, there is that? I am also a huge fan of his Sara Paine pieces, at least on her part.
Is there anything else intellectually honest and interesting coming out of that group?
I was mildly interested in the movement but found it weird as well. Some causes seem good (eg fighting malaria), others like Super AIs just seem like geeks doing mental gymnastics over sci fi topics.
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