I’m not sure if we disagree— I think there are better ways to assess this than the way the “is this an xrisk person or not” tribal card often gets applied.
Example: “Among all the topics in AI policy and concerns around AI, what are your biggest priorities?” is a good question IMP.
Counterexample: “Do you think existential risk from advanced AI is important?” is a bad question IMO (especially in isolation).
It is very easy for people to say they care about “AI safety” without giving much indication of where it stands on their priority list, what sorts of ideas/plans they want to aim for, what threat models they are concerned about, if they are the kind of person who can have a 20+ min conversation about interesting readings or topics in the field, etc.
I suspect that people would get “burnt” less if they asked these kinds of questions instead of defaulting to some sort of “does this person care about safety” frame or “is this person Part of My Tribe” thing.
(On that latter point, it is rather often that I hear people say things like “Alice is amazing!” and then when I ask them about Alice’s beliefs or work they say something like “Oh I don’t know much about Alice’s work— I just know other people say Alice is amazing!”. I think it would be better for people to say “I think Alice is well-liked but I personally do not know much about her work or what kinds of things she believes/prioritizes.”)
I’m not sure if we disagree— I think there are better ways to assess this than the way the “is this an xrisk person or not” tribal card often gets applied.
Example: “Among all the topics in AI policy and concerns around AI, what are your biggest priorities?” is a good question IMP.
Counterexample: “Do you think existential risk from advanced AI is important?” is a bad question IMO (especially in isolation).
It is very easy for people to say they care about “AI safety” without giving much indication of where it stands on their priority list, what sorts of ideas/plans they want to aim for, what threat models they are concerned about, if they are the kind of person who can have a 20+ min conversation about interesting readings or topics in the field, etc.
I suspect that people would get “burnt” less if they asked these kinds of questions instead of defaulting to some sort of “does this person care about safety” frame or “is this person Part of My Tribe” thing.
(On that latter point, it is rather often that I hear people say things like “Alice is amazing!” and then when I ask them about Alice’s beliefs or work they say something like “Oh I don’t know much about Alice’s work— I just know other people say Alice is amazing!”. I think it would be better for people to say “I think Alice is well-liked but I personally do not know much about her work or what kinds of things she believes/prioritizes.”)