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Comment by giveaccountpls

4 days ago

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?

13 comments

giveaccountpls

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ChadNauseam  3 days ago

> 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.

  • giveaccountpls  3 days ago

    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?

    • ballmerpoint  3 days ago

      > Did they advance the field of AI alignment at all?

      Not directly. Exotic decision theories were a dead end; as far as I know nobody outside of MIRI even cares about them. Certainly they’re not relevant to interpretability in the context of this thread.

    • paulpauper  3 days ago

      It's a non-profit that pays his salary and puts out the occasional research report every 7 or so years. It relies on donations. It operates on a long tail approach, in the hope of enticing a billionaire to donate a lot.

tgarrett  3 days ago

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).

  • paulpauper  3 days ago

    yes, he's an author fist and a researcher/scientist second. He has no peer reviewed publications in his name.

  • socializer  3 days ago

    > 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.

    • Permit  3 days ago

      > 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.

      The author also publishes research and contributes to the field. This is the primary difference. Yudkowsky ONLY tells stories.