“You know, I could show you code… it’s not that hard a problem, really,
I’d actually be very surprised if Eliezer had ever said that—since it is plainly wrong and as far as I know Eliezer isn’t quite that insane. I can imagine him saying that it is (probably) an order of magnitude easier than making the coded AI friendly but that is still just placing it simpler on a scale of ‘impossible’. Eliezer says many things that qualify for the label arrogant but I doubt this is one of them.
If Eliezer thought AI wasn’t a hard problem he wouldn’t be comfortable dismissing (particular isntances of) AI researchers who don’t care about friendliness as “Mostly Harmless”!
What I wrote was “it’s not that hard a problem, really, for one with (list of qualifications most people don’t have),” which is importantly different from what you quote.
Incidentally, I didn’t claim it was arrogant. I claimed it was a boast, and I brought boasts up in the context of judging whether someone is a crackpot. I explicitly said, and I repeat here, that I don’t really have an opinion about EY’s supposed arrogance. Neither do I think it especially important.
What I wrote was “it’s not that hard a problem, really, for one with (list of qualifications most people don’t have),” which is importantly different from what you quote.
I extend my denial to the full list. I do not believe Eliezer has made the claim that you allege he has made, even with the list of qualifications. It would be a plainly wrong claim and I believe you have made a mistake in your recollection.
The flip side is that if Eliezer has actually claimed that it isn’t a hard problem (with the list of qualifications) then I assert that said claim significantly undermines Eliezer’s credibility in my eyes.
Do you also still maintain that if he thought it wasn’t a hard problem for people with the right qualifications, he wouldn’t be comfortable dismissing particular instances of AI researchers as mostly harmless?
Do you also still maintain that if he thought it wasn’t a hard problem for people with the right qualifications, he wouldn’t be comfortable dismissing particular instances of AI researchers as mostly harmless?
Yes. And again if Eliezer did consider the problem easy with qualifications but still dismissed the aforementioned folks as mostly harmless it would constitute dramatically enhanced boastful arrogance!
OK, that’s clear. I don’t know if I’ll bother to do the research to confirm one way or the other, but in either case your confidence that I’m misremembering has reduced my confidence in my recollection.
I’d actually be very surprised if Eliezer had ever said that—since it is plainly wrong and as far as I know Eliezer isn’t quite that insane. I can imagine him saying that it is (probably) an order of magnitude easier than making the coded AI friendly but that is still just placing it simpler on a scale of ‘impossible’. Eliezer says many things that qualify for the label arrogant but I doubt this is one of them.
If Eliezer thought AI wasn’t a hard problem he wouldn’t be comfortable dismissing (particular isntances of) AI researchers who don’t care about friendliness as “Mostly Harmless”!
What I wrote was “it’s not that hard a problem, really, for one with (list of qualifications most people don’t have),” which is importantly different from what you quote.
Incidentally, I didn’t claim it was arrogant. I claimed it was a boast, and I brought boasts up in the context of judging whether someone is a crackpot. I explicitly said, and I repeat here, that I don’t really have an opinion about EY’s supposed arrogance. Neither do I think it especially important.
I extend my denial to the full list. I do not believe Eliezer has made the claim that you allege he has made, even with the list of qualifications. It would be a plainly wrong claim and I believe you have made a mistake in your recollection.
The flip side is that if Eliezer has actually claimed that it isn’t a hard problem (with the list of qualifications) then I assert that said claim significantly undermines Eliezer’s credibility in my eyes.
OK, cool.
Do you also still maintain that if he thought it wasn’t a hard problem for people with the right qualifications, he wouldn’t be comfortable dismissing particular instances of AI researchers as mostly harmless?
Yes. And again if Eliezer did consider the problem easy with qualifications but still dismissed the aforementioned folks as mostly harmless it would constitute dramatically enhanced boastful arrogance!
OK, that’s clear. I don’t know if I’ll bother to do the research to confirm one way or the other, but in either case your confidence that I’m misremembering has reduced my confidence in my recollection.