I’m still in some sort of transitory phase where I’m deciding where I’d like to live long term. I moved to Montreal, Canada lately because I figured I’d try working as an independent researcher here and see if I can get MILA/Bengio to do some things for reducing x-risk.
Not long after I moved here, Hinton started talking about AI risk too, and he’s in Toronto which is not too far from Montreal. I’m trying to figure out the best way I could leverage Canada’s heavyweights and government to make progress on reducing AI risk, but it seems like there’s a lot more opportunity than there was before.
This area is also not too far from Boston and NYC, which have a few alignment researchers of their own. It’s barely a day’s drive away. For me personally, there’s the added benefit that it is also just a day’s drive away from my home (where my parents live).
Montreal/Toronto is also a nice time zone since you can still work a few hours with London people, and a few hours with Bay Area people.
That said, it’s obvious that not many alignment researchers are here and eventually end up at one of the two main hubs.
When I spent time at both hubs last year, I think I preferred London. And now London is getting more attention than I was expecting:
Anthropic is opening up an office in London.
The Prime Minister recently talk to the orgs about existential risk.
Apollo Research and Leap Labs are based in London.
SERI MATS is still doing x.1 iterations in London.
Conjecture is still there.
Demis now leading Google DeepMind.
It’s not clear how things will evolve going forward, but I still have things to think about. If I decide to go to London, I can get a Youth Mobility visa for 2 years (I have 2 months to decide) and work independently...but I’m also considering building an org for Accelerating Alignment too and I’m not sure if I could get that setup in London.
I think there is value in being in person, but I think that value can fade over time as an independent researcher. You just end up in a routine, stop talking to as many people, and just work. That’s why, for now, I’m trying to aim for some kind of hybrid where I spend ~2 months per year at the hubs to benefit from being there in person. And maybe 1-2 work retreats. Not sure what I’ll do if I end up building an org.
I’m still in some sort of transitory phase where I’m deciding where I’d like to live long term. I moved to Montreal, Canada lately because I figured I’d try working as an independent researcher here and see if I can get MILA/Bengio to do some things for reducing x-risk.
Not long after I moved here, Hinton started talking about AI risk too, and he’s in Toronto which is not too far from Montreal. I’m trying to figure out the best way I could leverage Canada’s heavyweights and government to make progress on reducing AI risk, but it seems like there’s a lot more opportunity than there was before.
This area is also not too far from Boston and NYC, which have a few alignment researchers of their own. It’s barely a day’s drive away. For me personally, there’s the added benefit that it is also just a day’s drive away from my home (where my parents live).
Montreal/Toronto is also a nice time zone since you can still work a few hours with London people, and a few hours with Bay Area people.
That said, it’s obvious that not many alignment researchers are here and eventually end up at one of the two main hubs.
When I spent time at both hubs last year, I think I preferred London. And now London is getting more attention than I was expecting:
Anthropic is opening up an office in London.
The Prime Minister recently talk to the orgs about existential risk.
Apollo Research and Leap Labs are based in London.
SERI MATS is still doing x.1 iterations in London.
Conjecture is still there.
Demis now leading Google DeepMind.
It’s not clear how things will evolve going forward, but I still have things to think about. If I decide to go to London, I can get a Youth Mobility visa for 2 years (I have 2 months to decide) and work independently...but I’m also considering building an org for Accelerating Alignment too and I’m not sure if I could get that setup in London.
I think there is value in being in person, but I think that value can fade over time as an independent researcher. You just end up in a routine, stop talking to as many people, and just work. That’s why, for now, I’m trying to aim for some kind of hybrid where I spend ~2 months per year at the hubs to benefit from being there in person. And maybe 1-2 work retreats. Not sure what I’ll do if I end up building an org.