Research interests I don’t currently have time to develop alone

[Stuart_Armstrong]

EDIT: added the “rights of parents” and “simulation hypothesis” research interests.

I’ve started a lot of research projects and have a lot of research interests that I don’t currently have time to develop on my own. So I’m putting the research interests together on this page, and anyone can let me know if they’re interested in doing any joint projects on these topics. This can range from coauthoring, to simply having a conversation about these and seeing where that goes.

The possible research topics are:

• Reduced impact AI (this is one I’m certainly going to be returning to, once I have the time).

• The Fermi paradox and universal colonisation.

• Anthropic decision theory (extending it to include quantum mechanics).

• How to divide the gains from trade/​to negotiate/​to achieve “fairness”/​to avoid blackmail.

• Oracle AI and the (non-)differences between tool AIs and agents

• General assessments of predictions and experts (including counterfactual resiliency).

• The future of surveillance.

• The risks of singleton world governments and mass-em worlds.

• Anthropic shadows for multiple risks.

• The potential limitations of the Turing test as an accurate general intelligence test.

• Extending the orthogonality thesis to realistic AI designs.

• Infinite ethics.

• The cake or death problem for value loading: whether it’s fully solved or whether similar problems remain.

• The problems with total utilitarianism.

• The problems with CEV (and potential solutions).

• Whether AIXI would end protecting itself or not.

• The rights of parents versus others in determining the genetic modifications of their children (and the efficiency of the markets in these kinds of modifications).

• Exploring the consequences of the simulation hypothesis, as Joshua Fox did.