Summary: The ambiguity as to how much of the above is a joke appears it may be for Eliezer or others to have plausible deniability about the seriousness of apparently extreme but little-backed claims being made. This is after a lack of adequate handling on the part of the relevant parties of the impact of Eliezer’s output in recent months on various communities, such as rationality and effective altruism. Virtually none of this has indicated what real, meaningful changes can be expected in MIRI’s work. As MIRI’s work depends in large part on the communities supporting them understanding what the organization is really doing, MIRI’s leadership should clarify what the real or official relationship is between their current research and strategy, and Eliezer’s output in the last year.
Strongly downvoted.
Q6 doesn’t appear to clarify whether this is all an April Fool’s Day joke. I expect that’s why some others have asked the question again in their comments. I won’t myself ask again because I anticipate I won’t receive a better answer than those already provided.
My guess is that some aspects of this are something of a joke, or the joke is a tone of exaggeration or hyperbole, for some aspects. I’m aware some aspects aren’t jokes, as Eliezer has publicly expressed for months now some of the opinions expressed above. I expect one reason why is that exploiting April Fool’s Day to publish this post provides plausible deniability for the seriousness of apparently extreme but poorly substantiated claims. Why that may be is because of, in my opinion, the inadequate handling thus far of the impact this discourse has had on the relevant communities (e.g., AI alignment, effective altruism, long-termism, existential risk reduction, rationality, etc.).
In contradiction to the title of this post, there is little to no content conveying what a change in strategy entails MIRI will really do differently than any time in the past. Insofar as Eliezer has been sincere above, it appears this is only an attempt to dissuade panic and facilitate a change in those communities to accept the presumed inevitability of existential catastrophe. While that effort is appreciated, it doesn’t reveal anything about what meaningful changes in a new strategy at MIRI. It has also thus far been ambiguous what the relationship is between some of the dialogues between Eliezer and others published in the last year, and what official changes there may be in MIRI’s work.
Other than Eliezer, other individuals who have commented and have a clear, direct and professional relationship with MIRI are:
Rob Bensinger, Communications Lead
Abram Demski, Research Staff
Anna Salamon, Board Director
Vanessa Kosoy, Research Associate
None of their comments here clarify any of this ambiguity. Eliezer has also now repeatedly clarified the relationship between the perspective he is now expressing and MIRI’s official strategy. Until that’s clarified, it’s not clear how seriously any of the above should be taken as meaningfully impacting MIRI’s work. At this stage, MIRI’s leadership (Nate Soares and Malo Bourgon) should provide that clarification, perhaps in tandem with Rob Bensinger and other MIRI researchers, but in a way independent of Eliezer’s recent output.
Summary: The ambiguity as to how much of the above is a joke appears it may be for Eliezer or others to have plausible deniability about the seriousness of apparently extreme but little-backed claims being made. This is after a lack of adequate handling on the part of the relevant parties of the impact of Eliezer’s output in recent months on various communities, such as rationality and effective altruism. Virtually none of this has indicated what real, meaningful changes can be expected in MIRI’s work. As MIRI’s work depends in large part on the communities supporting them understanding what the organization is really doing, MIRI’s leadership should clarify what the real or official relationship is between their current research and strategy, and Eliezer’s output in the last year.
Strongly downvoted.
Q6 doesn’t appear to clarify whether this is all an April Fool’s Day joke. I expect that’s why some others have asked the question again in their comments. I won’t myself ask again because I anticipate I won’t receive a better answer than those already provided.
My guess is that some aspects of this are something of a joke, or the joke is a tone of exaggeration or hyperbole, for some aspects. I’m aware some aspects aren’t jokes, as Eliezer has publicly expressed for months now some of the opinions expressed above. I expect one reason why is that exploiting April Fool’s Day to publish this post provides plausible deniability for the seriousness of apparently extreme but poorly substantiated claims. Why that may be is because of, in my opinion, the inadequate handling thus far of the impact this discourse has had on the relevant communities (e.g., AI alignment, effective altruism, long-termism, existential risk reduction, rationality, etc.).
In contradiction to the title of this post, there is little to no content conveying what a change in strategy entails MIRI will really do differently than any time in the past. Insofar as Eliezer has been sincere above, it appears this is only an attempt to dissuade panic and facilitate a change in those communities to accept the presumed inevitability of existential catastrophe. While that effort is appreciated, it doesn’t reveal anything about what meaningful changes in a new strategy at MIRI. It has also thus far been ambiguous what the relationship is between some of the dialogues between Eliezer and others published in the last year, and what official changes there may be in MIRI’s work.
Other than Eliezer, other individuals who have commented and have a clear, direct and professional relationship with MIRI are:
Rob Bensinger, Communications Lead
Abram Demski, Research Staff
Anna Salamon, Board Director
Vanessa Kosoy, Research Associate
None of their comments here clarify any of this ambiguity. Eliezer has also now repeatedly clarified the relationship between the perspective he is now expressing and MIRI’s official strategy. Until that’s clarified, it’s not clear how seriously any of the above should be taken as meaningfully impacting MIRI’s work. At this stage, MIRI’s leadership (Nate Soares and Malo Bourgon) should provide that clarification, perhaps in tandem with Rob Bensinger and other MIRI researchers, but in a way independent of Eliezer’s recent output.
Here’s a reply! Hope that clears stuff up.