If academia doesn’t work for him, Eliezer could have pursued his ideas and published them online while working a day job, as lots of scientists did. He’d make just the same impact.
Isn’t it better to have an option of pursuing your research without having to work a day job? Presumably, this will allow you to focus more on research...
But… create a big organization that generates no useful output, except providing you with some money to live on? Is it really the path of least effort? SIAI has existed for 10 years now and here are its glorious accomplishments broken down by year. Frankly, I’d be less embarrassed if Eliezer were just one person doing research!
SIAI has existed for 10 years now and here are its glorious accomplishments broken down by year. Frankly, I’d be less embarrassed if Eliezer were just one person doing research!
Yes well, in retrospect many things are seen as suboptimal. Remember that SIAI was founded back when Eliezer didn’t figure out importance of Friendliness and thought we need a big concerted effort to develop an AGI. Later, he was unable to interest sufficiently qualified people to do the research on FAI (equivalently, to explain the problem so that qualified people would both understand it and take seriously). This led to blogging on Overcoming Bias and now Less Wrong, which does seem to be a successful, if insanely inefficient, way of explaining the problem. Current SIAI seems to have a chance of mutating into a source of funding for more serious FAI research, but as multifoliaterose points out, right now publicity seems to be a more efficient way to eventually getting things done, since we need to actually find researchers to make the accomplishments you protest about the absence of.
Since you have advanced the state of the art both here and at decision-theory-workshop, I will take this opportunity to ask you: is your research funded by SIAI? Would it progress faster if it were? Is money the limiting factor?
The advantages to an organization are mutual support, improving the odds of continuity if something happens to Eliezar, and improving the odds of getting more people who can do high level work.
I don’t have a feeling for how fast new organizations for original thought and research should be expected to get things done. Anyone have information?
improving the odds of continuity if something happens to Eliezer, and improving the odds of getting more people who can do high level work
I don’t see who else does high level work at SIAI and who will continue it if Eliezer gets hit by a bus. Wei Dai had the most success building on Eliezer’s ideas, but he’s not a SIAI employee and SIAI didn’t spark his interest in the topic.
Isn’t it better to have an option of pursuing your research without having to work a day job? Presumably, this will allow you to focus more on research...
But… create a big organization that generates no useful output, except providing you with some money to live on? Is it really the path of least effort? SIAI has existed for 10 years now and here are its glorious accomplishments broken down by year. Frankly, I’d be less embarrassed if Eliezer were just one person doing research!
Yes well, in retrospect many things are seen as suboptimal. Remember that SIAI was founded back when Eliezer didn’t figure out importance of Friendliness and thought we need a big concerted effort to develop an AGI. Later, he was unable to interest sufficiently qualified people to do the research on FAI (equivalently, to explain the problem so that qualified people would both understand it and take seriously). This led to blogging on Overcoming Bias and now Less Wrong, which does seem to be a successful, if insanely inefficient, way of explaining the problem. Current SIAI seems to have a chance of mutating into a source of funding for more serious FAI research, but as multifoliaterose points out, right now publicity seems to be a more efficient way to eventually getting things done, since we need to actually find researchers to make the accomplishments you protest about the absence of.
Since you have advanced the state of the art both here and at decision-theory-workshop, I will take this opportunity to ask you: is your research funded by SIAI? Would it progress faster if it were? Is money the limiting factor?
I’ll reply privately via e-mail (SIAI doesn’t fund me, and it’d be helpful if a few unlikely things were different).
For the record, Vladimir did reply.
The advantages to an organization are mutual support, improving the odds of continuity if something happens to Eliezar, and improving the odds of getting more people who can do high level work.
I don’t have a feeling for how fast new organizations for original thought and research should be expected to get things done. Anyone have information?
I don’t see who else does high level work at SIAI and who will continue it if Eliezer gets hit by a bus. Wei Dai had the most success building on Eliezer’s ideas, but he’s not a SIAI employee and SIAI didn’t spark his interest in the topic.