In case it becomes known to any of a few powerful intelligence agencies that MIRI works on an internal project that they believe is likely to create an AGI in one or two years, that intelligence agency will hack/surveil MIRI to get all the secrets.
To the extend that MIRI’s theory of change is that they are going to build an AGI on their own independent of any outside organization a high degree of secrecy is likely necessary for that plan to work.
I think it’s highly questionable that MIRI will be able to develop AGI faster (especially when researchers don’t talk to each other) then organizations like Deep Mind and thus it’s unclear to me whether the plan makes sense, but it seems hard to imagine that plan without secrecy.
In case it becomes known to any of a few powerful intelligence agencies that MIRI works on an internal project that they believe is likely to create an AGI in one or two years, that intelligence agency will hack/surveil MIRI to get all the secrets.
To the extend that MIRI’s theory of change is that they are going to build an AGI on their own independent of any outside organization a high degree of secrecy is likely necessary for that plan to work.
I think it’s highly questionable that MIRI will be able to develop AGI faster (especially when researchers don’t talk to each other) then organizations like Deep Mind and thus it’s unclear to me whether the plan makes sense, but it seems hard to imagine that plan without secrecy.