If the claims in the piece are true, there seem to be some (seemingly tractable) ways of substantially improving US-China crisis communication.
The barriers seem more bureaucratic (understanding how the defense world works and getting specific agencies/people to do specific things) than political (I doubt this is something you need Congress to pass new legislation to improve.)
In general, I feel like “how do we improve our communication infrastructure during AI-related crises” is an important and underexplored area of AI policy. This isn’t just true for US-China communication but also for “lab-government communication”, “whistleblower-government communication”, and “junior AI staffer-senior national security advisor” communication.
Example: Suppose an eval goes off that suggests that an AI-related emergency might be imminent. How do we make sure this information swiftly gets to relevant people? To what extent do UKAISI and USAISI folks (or lab whistleblowers) have access to senior national security folks who would actually be able to respond in a quick or effective way?
I think IAPS’ CDDC paper is a useful contribution here. I will soon be releasing a few papers in this broad space, with a focus on interventions that can improve emergency detection + emergency response.
One benefit of workshops/conferences/Track 2 dialogues might simply be that you get relevant people to meet each other, share contact information, build trust/positive vibes, and be more likely to reach out in the event of an emergency scenario.
Establishing things like the AI Safety and Security Board might also be useful for similar reasons. I think this has gotten a fair amount of criticism for being too industry-focused, and some of that is justified. Nonetheless, I think interventions along the lines of “make it easy for the people who might see the first signs of extreme risk have super clear ways of advising/contacting government officials” seem great.
Recommended reading: A recent piece argues that the US-China crisis hotline doesn’t work & generally raises some concerns about US-China crisis communication.
Some quick thoughts:
If the claims in the piece are true, there seem to be some (seemingly tractable) ways of substantially improving US-China crisis communication.
The barriers seem more bureaucratic (understanding how the defense world works and getting specific agencies/people to do specific things) than political (I doubt this is something you need Congress to pass new legislation to improve.)
In general, I feel like “how do we improve our communication infrastructure during AI-related crises” is an important and underexplored area of AI policy. This isn’t just true for US-China communication but also for “lab-government communication”, “whistleblower-government communication”, and “junior AI staffer-senior national security advisor” communication.
Example: Suppose an eval goes off that suggests that an AI-related emergency might be imminent. How do we make sure this information swiftly gets to relevant people? To what extent do UKAISI and USAISI folks (or lab whistleblowers) have access to senior national security folks who would actually be able to respond in a quick or effective way?
I think IAPS’ CDDC paper is a useful contribution here. I will soon be releasing a few papers in this broad space, with a focus on interventions that can improve emergency detection + emergency response.
One benefit of workshops/conferences/Track 2 dialogues might simply be that you get relevant people to meet each other, share contact information, build trust/positive vibes, and be more likely to reach out in the event of an emergency scenario.
Establishing things like the AI Safety and Security Board might also be useful for similar reasons. I think this has gotten a fair amount of criticism for being too industry-focused, and some of that is justified. Nonetheless, I think interventions along the lines of “make it easy for the people who might see the first signs of extreme risk have super clear ways of advising/contacting government officials” seem great.