Here’s some clarifying questions I had given this post, that are answered in the full contest rules. I’m putting them here in case anyone else had similar questions, though I’m a bit worried that the contest rules are pretty out of date?
Q: Who are the judges? There will be two (2) rounds of judging: (1) Round 1: Approximately 10 Judges who are undergraduate and graduate students will judge all submitted essays by blind grading in accordance with the criteria set forth in subsection 6.D.i below. All Entries that receive an overall score of 85 and above will advance to Round 2. (2) Round 2: Out of the Entries advancing from Round 1, approximately 5 Judges who are senior researchers and directors of AI alignment organizations will judge all submitted essays by blind grading in accordance with the criteria set forth in subsection 6.D.i below. The Judges will select at least three (3) Entries for each essay prompt as Final Prize Winners, for a total of at least six (6) Final Prize Winners.
Q: How will entries be scored? The Judges will make their decisions using the criteria (the “Criteria”) described below: (A) Demonstrated understanding of one or more core problems pertinent to the essay prompt (25%); (B) Ability to articulate how the entrant’s proposal addresses one or more of the identified core problems or otherwise advances the science of AI alignment (50%); and (C) Ability to articulate significant limitations of the proposal may be (if any) (25%).
Q: What’s the format of the entry? A written essay in response to one of the two prompts posted on the Contest Site regarding AI alignment. Essay responses must be written in English and no more than1,000 words in length (excluding title, endnotes, footnotes and/or citations). Entrants will submit their essay through the Contest Entry Form on the Contest Site. Essays must be submitted in a .pdf format.
Q: What is the prize structure? Each Entry that advances to Round 2 will receive a “Round 2 Prize” consisting of cash in the amount of at least One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) until a maximum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) has been awarded (the “Round 2 Cap”). Whether or not the Round 2 Cap has been reached depends on the number of eligible Entries received that proceed to Round 2. For clarity, the Round 2 Cap applies to all Entries submitted for either essay prompt. At least three (3) Entries for each essay prompt with the highest total scores from Round 2 will receive a “Final Prize” consisting of cash in the amount of at least Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) each.
Who is funding this? The Open Philanthropy Project.
Here are some other questions I still have after reading through the rules and the website:
The website says proposals should be up to 500 words, but the official rules say it can be up to 1000. The website says you’re allowed to submit supplementary materials, but the official rules make no mention of this. What’s the actual intended format?
Who exactly is judging the contest? The official rules say there’s two rounds of judging, with undergrads/grad students judging in round 1 and 5 senior AI researchers judging in round 2. But the website says that “Submissions will be judged on a rolling basis by Richard Ngo, Lauro Langosco, Nate Soares, and John Wentworth.”
Why does the official rules say that the deadline is December 1st? Should people just not read the official rules?
Thanks for catching this, Lawrence! You’re right—we accidentally had an old version of the official rules. Just updated it with the new version. In general, I’d trust the text on the website (but definitely feel free to let us know if you notice any other inconsistencies).
As for your specific questions:
500 words
If we get a lot of submissions, submissions will initially be screened by junior alignment researchers (undergrads & grad students) and then passed onto our senior judges (like the ones listed).
Deadline is March 1.
No limit on the number of submissions per individual/team.
Here’s another inconsistency between the official rules pdf and the website: the official rules say “Limit of one (1) Entry per individual entrant or Team for each essay prompt”. However, the FAQ page on the website says you can submit multiple entries. How many entries can you actually make?
Here’s some clarifying questions I had given this post, that are answered in the full contest rules. I’m putting them here in case anyone else had similar questions, though I’m a bit worried that the contest rules are pretty out of date?
Q: Who are the judges?
There will be two (2) rounds of judging:
(1) Round 1: Approximately 10 Judges who are undergraduate and graduate students will judge all submitted essays by blind grading in accordance with the criteria set forth in subsection 6.D.i below. All Entries that receive an overall score of 85 and above will advance to Round 2.
(2) Round 2: Out of the Entries advancing from Round 1, approximately 5 Judges who are senior researchers and directors of AI alignment organizations will judge all submitted essays by blind grading in accordance with the criteria set forth in subsection 6.D.i below. The Judges will select at least three (3) Entries for each essay prompt as Final Prize Winners, for a total of at least six (6) Final Prize Winners.
Q: How will entries be scored?
The Judges will make their decisions using the criteria (the “Criteria”) described below:
(A) Demonstrated understanding of one or more core problems pertinent to the essay prompt (25%);
(B) Ability to articulate how the entrant’s proposal addresses one or more of the identified core problems or otherwise advances the science of AI alignment (50%); and
(C) Ability to articulate significant limitations of the proposal may be (if any) (25%).
Q: What’s the format of the entry?
A written essay in response to one of the two prompts posted on the Contest Site regarding AI alignment. Essay responses must be written in English and no more than1,000 words in length (excluding title, endnotes, footnotes and/or citations). Entrants will submit their essay through the Contest Entry Form on the Contest Site. Essays must be submitted in a .pdf format.
Q: What is the prize structure?
Each Entry that advances to Round 2 will receive a “Round 2 Prize” consisting of cash in the amount of at least One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) until a maximum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) has been awarded (the “Round 2 Cap”). Whether or not the Round 2 Cap has been reached depends on the number of eligible Entries received that proceed to Round 2. For clarity, the Round 2 Cap applies to all Entries submitted for either essay prompt. At least three (3) Entries for each essay prompt with the highest total scores from Round 2 will receive a “Final Prize” consisting of cash in the amount of at least Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) each.
Who is funding this?
The Open Philanthropy Project.
Here are some other questions I still have after reading through the rules and the website:
The website says proposals should be up to 500 words, but the official rules say it can be up to 1000. The website says you’re allowed to submit supplementary materials, but the official rules make no mention of this. What’s the actual intended format?
Who exactly is judging the contest? The official rules say there’s two rounds of judging, with undergrads/grad students judging in round 1 and 5 senior AI researchers judging in round 2. But the website says that “Submissions will be judged on a rolling basis by Richard Ngo, Lauro Langosco, Nate Soares, and John Wentworth.”
Why does the official rules say that the deadline is December 1st? Should people just not read the official rules?
Thanks for catching this, Lawrence! You’re right—we accidentally had an old version of the official rules. Just updated it with the new version. In general, I’d trust the text on the website (but definitely feel free to let us know if you notice any other inconsistencies).
As for your specific questions:
500 words
If we get a lot of submissions, submissions will initially be screened by junior alignment researchers (undergrads & grad students) and then passed onto our senior judges (like the ones listed).
Deadline is March 1.
No limit on the number of submissions per individual/team.
If you notice anything else, feel free to email at akash@alignmentawards.com and olivia@alignmentawards.com (probably better to communicate there than via LW comments).
Here’s another inconsistency between the official rules pdf and the website: the official rules say “Limit of one (1) Entry per individual entrant or Team for each essay prompt”. However, the FAQ page on the website says you can submit multiple entries. How many entries can you actually make?