> What are his actual credentials? What did he achieve?
He cofounded the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, an organization focused on AI alignment, in 2000, way way before it was a trendy topic.
He's also partially responsible for popularizing ideas such as the orthogonality thesis and instrumental convergence.
> Isn't he just some random dude on the internet?
Not really, most random dudes on the internet were not researching AI alignment in 2000.
> Why do people care what he says?
Many people were introduced to the concept of AI alignment thanks to him, so they are naturally interested in reading his reaction to progress in the field.
I've read the wikipidea page of MIRI, and it does not mention any achievements; just that it was founded "with the purpose of accelerating the development of artificial intelligence". Did they advance the field of AI alignment at all? Being concerned with a problem does not make one an expert.
For the rest, is he just an AI influencer? One that predated his topic of interest, but still just an influencer?
He tells spooky stories on the internet to make money. He has told numerous spooky stories. Yes. Spooky stories grab the attention of many people (understandably, given all the wars and plagues and famines in previous centuries).
> He tells spooky stories on the internet to make money.
I mean, yes, but so does the author of this article. It's literally his business. The article is, in part, an advertisement for what he sells.
I disagree with Yudkowsky on almost everything and I think the philosophical movement he co-founded is a pox on the SF Bay Area tech culture, but I don't think we can deny him credibility that's comparable to the credibility of the author of this article (who, as I understand, is a young guy who spent some time at OpenAI). They both know what they're talking about and both are motivated to reach specific conclusions.
By 'rape cult' I assume you're referring to the zizians? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizians - the internet is convinced Yudkowsky has nothing to do with them, so it's pretty disingenuous of you to claim otherwise without citing sources.
There have been plenty of allegations about the rationalist community beyond the Zizians, who really don't even qualify as a sex cult as far as I know? Violent, obviously, but they seem... ideologically asexual?
What are his actual credentials? What did he achieve? Isn't he just some random dude on the internet? Why do people care what he says?
> What are his actual credentials? What did he achieve?
He cofounded the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, an organization focused on AI alignment, in 2000, way way before it was a trendy topic.
He's also partially responsible for popularizing ideas such as the orthogonality thesis and instrumental convergence.
> Isn't he just some random dude on the internet?
Not really, most random dudes on the internet were not researching AI alignment in 2000.
> Why do people care what he says?
Many people were introduced to the concept of AI alignment thanks to him, so they are naturally interested in reading his reaction to progress in the field.
I've read the wikipidea page of MIRI, and it does not mention any achievements; just that it was founded "with the purpose of accelerating the development of artificial intelligence". Did they advance the field of AI alignment at all? Being concerned with a problem does not make one an expert.
For the rest, is he just an AI influencer? One that predated his topic of interest, but still just an influencer?
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Also, here is a list of his papers and citations.
https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Eliezer-Yudkowsky/254...
He tells spooky stories on the internet to make money. He has told numerous spooky stories. Yes. Spooky stories grab the attention of many people (understandably, given all the wars and plagues and famines in previous centuries).
yes, he's an author fist and a researcher/scientist second. He has no peer reviewed publications in his name.
> He tells spooky stories on the internet to make money.
I mean, yes, but so does the author of this article. It's literally his business. The article is, in part, an advertisement for what he sells.
I disagree with Yudkowsky on almost everything and I think the philosophical movement he co-founded is a pox on the SF Bay Area tech culture, but I don't think we can deny him credibility that's comparable to the credibility of the author of this article (who, as I understand, is a young guy who spent some time at OpenAI). They both know what they're talking about and both are motivated to reach specific conclusions.
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have you read his harry potter fan fiction?
When a random dude with no credential has enormous influence and cult-like followers you can assume they are an agent of influence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_of_influence
He runs a cult, that requires something I guess.
That's because he's worried about super-intelligence. If LLM's are a normalish tech this is a good step
No one cares what that guy says.
Why do you care about a cultist ?
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By 'rape cult' I assume you're referring to the zizians? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizians - the internet is convinced Yudkowsky has nothing to do with them, so it's pretty disingenuous of you to claim otherwise without citing sources.
I assume they're referring to this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49737985
There have been plenty of allegations about the rationalist community beyond the Zizians, who really don't even qualify as a sex cult as far as I know? Violent, obviously, but they seem... ideologically asexual?
I think the allegations for the LessWrong types started with the math pet thing?
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It's a nice can of worms, that one.