I think this letter is not robust enough to people submitting false names. Back when Jacob and I put together DontDoxScottAlexander.com we included this section, and I would recommend doing something pretty similar:
I think someone checking some of these emails would slow down high-profile signatories by 6-48 hours, but sustain trust that the names are all real.
I’m willing to help out if those running it would like, feel free to PM me.
I believe the high-profile names at the top are individually verified, at least, and it looks like there’s someone behind the form deleting fake entries as they’re noticed. (Eg Yann LeCun was on the list briefly, but has since been deleted from the list.)
When we did Scott’s petition, names were not automatically added to the list, but each name was read by me-or-Jacob, and if we were uncertain about one we didn’t add it without checking in with others or thinking it over. This meant that added names were staggered throughout the day because we only checked every hour or two, but overall prevented a number of fake names from getting on there.
(I write this to contrast it with automatically adding names then removing them as you notice issues.)
Yea they made a mistake not verifying signatures from the beginning. But they have course-corrected, see this notice FLI has posted now above the signatories list:
Due to high demand we are still collecting signatures but pausing their appearance on the letter so that our vetting processes can catch up. Note also that the signatures near the top of the list are all independently and directly verified.
I think this letter is not robust enough to people submitting false names. Back when Jacob and I put together DontDoxScottAlexander.com we included this section, and I would recommend doing something pretty similar:
I think someone checking some of these emails would slow down high-profile signatories by 6-48 hours, but sustain trust that the names are all real.
I’m willing to help out if those running it would like, feel free to PM me.
Oh no. Apparently also Yann LeCun didn’t really sign this.
https://twitter.com/ylecun/status/1640910484030255109
Indeed. Among the alleged signatories:
Which I heavily doubt.
I concur, the typo in “Poeple” does call into question whether he has truly signed this letter.
No, he really DOES have all those honors.
I believe the high-profile names at the top are individually verified, at least, and it looks like there’s someone behind the form deleting fake entries as they’re noticed. (Eg Yann LeCun was on the list briefly, but has since been deleted from the list.)
When we did Scott’s petition, names were not automatically added to the list, but each name was read by me-or-Jacob, and if we were uncertain about one we didn’t add it without checking in with others or thinking it over. This meant that added names were staggered throughout the day because we only checked every hour or two, but overall prevented a number of fake names from getting on there.
(I write this to contrast it with automatically adding names then removing them as you notice issues.)
Lecun heard he was incorrectly added to the list, so the reputational damage still mostly occurred.
Yeah this seems a bit of a self-defeating exercise.
Who made the decision to go ahead with this method of collecting signatories?
They didn’t even have a verification hold on submitted names...
Yea they made a mistake not verifying signatures from the beginning. But they have course-corrected, see this notice FLI has posted now above the signatories list:
Screenshot