Research associates are not salaried staff, but we encourage their Friendly AI-related research outputs by, for example, covering their travel costs for conferences at which they present academic work relevant to our mission.
Are the research associates given enough support that they can work full time on their research?
Are the research associates given enough support that they can work full time on their research?
No. SI needs more funding to be able to support that kind of thing. The Research Associates program allows SI to support some additional research with almost no increase in our funding levels.
I believe the org is in the process of shortening its name from Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI) to simply Singularity Institute (SI).
I’m irrationally slightly annoyed to have “wasted” the time it took to train my brain to see “superintelligence” instead of “Singularity Institute” for SI back when it was used that way.
(Disclaimer: I don’t speak for SingInst, nor am I presently affiliated with them.)
But recall that the old name was “Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence,” chosen before the inherent dangers of AI were understood. The unambiguous for is no longer appropriate, and “Singularity Institute about Artificial Intelligence” might seem awkward.
I seem to remember someone saying back in 2008 that the organization should rebrand as the “Singularity Institute For or Against Artificial Intelligence Depending on Which Seems to Be a Better Idea Upon Due Consideration,” but obviously that was only a joke.
Are the research associates given enough support that they can work full time on their research?
No. SI needs more funding to be able to support that kind of thing. The Research Associates program allows SI to support some additional research with almost no increase in our funding levels.
Is it SI, or SIAI, or the Singularity Institute, or The Institute?
I believe the org is in the process of shortening its name from Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI) to simply Singularity Institute (SI).
I’m irrationally slightly annoyed to have “wasted” the time it took to train my brain to see “superintelligence” instead of “Singularity Institute” for SI back when it was used that way.
Isn’t the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ part the most important?
ETA: Seeing as it’s trying to reduce existential risks from AI first and foremost.
(Disclaimer: I don’t speak for SingInst, nor am I presently affiliated with them.)
But recall that the old name was “Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence,” chosen before the inherent dangers of AI were understood. The unambiguous for is no longer appropriate, and “Singularity Institute about Artificial Intelligence” might seem awkward.
I seem to remember someone saying back in 2008 that the organization should rebrand as the “Singularity Institute For or Against Artificial Intelligence Depending on Which Seems to Be a Better Idea Upon Due Consideration,” but obviously that was only a joke.
And also, SI is pretty commonly used as an abbreviation for Sports Illustrated and the International System of Units.
(I think SingInst is a better abbreviation now, as opposed to SIAI or SI.)
Yeah, and we can use ‘The Institute’ as a threshold warning sign that things have gone too far.
As in, once random people call it “the institute” we know it’s probably time for the singularity?