Nick Bostrom’s “Vulnerable World Hypothesis” (VWH) explores the idea that technological development could expose vulnerabilities, making it extraordinarily easy for individuals or small groups to cause widespread harm. The hypothesis presents various scenarios, categorized into different “balls” from a hypothetical “urn of invention“, symbolizing different types of technological developments: Bostrom suggests that as humanity pulls…
Below is a video recording of Peter Singer’s talk ‘Animal Liberation Now’ at Melbourne uni in Aug 2023. Few books maintain their relevance – and have remained continuously in print – nearly 50 years after they were first published.Animal Liberation, one of TIME’s “All-TIME 100 Best Non-Fiction Books” is one such book. Since its original…
Dr Simon Goldstein is an associate professor at the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at ACU. In 2023, he is a research fellow at the Center for AI Safety. Simon’s research focuses on AI safety, epistemology, and philosophy of language. Before ACU, Simon was an assistant professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Simon received my…
The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden. A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject… And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages. There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them… Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.
With AI we have made a ‘Faustian bargain’ – are the risks reason enough to halt technological progress? Professor A. C. Grayling discusses the implications of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics on society, and shares his views on how they will reshape the future. The thing that’s going to change everything is machine learning,…
Delighted to have Stuart Russell on video discussing the importance of AI Alignment – achieving friendly Strong AI that is provably beneficial. Points of discussion:A clash of intuitions about the beneficiality of Strong Artificial Intelligence The Value Alignment problem Basic AI Drives: Any objective generates sub-goals Aggregated Volition: How does an AI optimise for many…
Here, Adam Ford interviews OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Adam Ford: What is the anatomical basis for raw feels? ChatGPT: I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “raw feels.” Could you please provide some more context or clarify your question? Adam Ford: By “raw feels” I mean pleasure and suffering. ChatGPT: Pleasure and suffering are subjective experiences,…
David Pearce in interview on the The Anatomy of Happiness. While researching epilepsy, neuroscientist Itzhak Fried stumbled on a ‘mirth’ center in the brain – given this, what ought we be doing to combat extreme suffering and promote wellbeing? 0:00 Mastery of reward circuitry 0:25 Itzhak Fried’s experiments on stimulating ‘the Humor Centre’ of the…
Interview with Stuart Armstrong (Aligned AI) Video / Audio of interview will be up soon To watch interview live, join the zoom call: Time: Nov 9, 2022 07:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, SydneyJoin Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81320547208?pwd=MGFnZ2RGcFl5cW9aZ1BaUm5qcnh1UT09Meeting ID: 813 2054 7208Passcode: scifuture Auditing and interpreting AI (and their models) seems obviously important to achieve verifiably safe AI (by…
If you are a Negative Utilitarian (NU) you are morally obliged to wipe out all existence for the sake of a pin prick, but if you are a Classical Utilitarian (CU) you are morally obliged to accept trade-offs between suffering and bliss as long as the bliss outweighs the suffering. NU doesn’t accept trade-offs, it’s…
