Okay, I take that back. I did know about the connection between SIAI and FHI and Oxford.
What are these academic papers published in? A lot of them don’t provide that information; one is in Global Catastrophic Risks.
At any rate, I exaggerated in saying there isn’t any engagement with the academic mainstream. But it looks like it’s not very much. And I recall a post of Eliezer’s that said, roughly, “It’s not that academia has rejected my ideas, it’s that I haven’t done the work of trying to get academia’s attention.” Well, why not?
And I recall a post of Eliezer’s that said, roughly, “It’s not that academia has rejected my ideas, it’s that I haven’t done the work of trying to get academia’s attention.” Well, why not?
Limited time and more important objectives, I would assume. Most academic work is not substantially better than trial-and-error in terms of usefulness and accuracy; it gets by on volume. Volume is a detriment in Friendliness research, because errors can have large detrimental effects relative to the size of the error. (Like the accidental creation of a paperclipper.)
Okay, I take that back. I did know about the connection between SIAI and FHI and Oxford.
What are these academic papers published in? A lot of them don’t provide that information; one is in Global Catastrophic Risks.
At any rate, I exaggerated in saying there isn’t any engagement with the academic mainstream. But it looks like it’s not very much. And I recall a post of Eliezer’s that said, roughly, “It’s not that academia has rejected my ideas, it’s that I haven’t done the work of trying to get academia’s attention.” Well, why not?
Limited time and more important objectives, I would assume. Most academic work is not substantially better than trial-and-error in terms of usefulness and accuracy; it gets by on volume. Volume is a detriment in Friendliness research, because errors can have large detrimental effects relative to the size of the error. (Like the accidental creation of a paperclipper.)
If you want it done, feel free to do it yourself. :)