being okay with breaking new ground and having to figure out what “right” means
strong mathematical reasoning skills
decent communication skills (you can less rely on strong existing publication norms and may have to get more creative to convey your ideas than in other fields)
the courage and care to work on something where the stakes are high and if you get it wrong things could go very badly
I think people tend to emphasize the technical skills the most, and I’m sure other answers will offer more specific suggestions there, but I also think there’s an import aspect of having the right mindset for this kind of work such that a person with the right technical skills might not make much progress on AI safety without these other “soft” skills.
In my mind it’s something like you need:
strong interest in solving AI safety
being okay with breaking new ground and having to figure out what “right” means
strong mathematical reasoning skills
decent communication skills (you can less rely on strong existing publication norms and may have to get more creative to convey your ideas than in other fields)
the courage and care to work on something where the stakes are high and if you get it wrong things could go very badly
I think people tend to emphasize the technical skills the most, and I’m sure other answers will offer more specific suggestions there, but I also think there’s an import aspect of having the right mindset for this kind of work such that a person with the right technical skills might not make much progress on AI safety without these other “soft” skills.