I think, this condition is important only if I am going to leave my full-time job and switch to unpaid AI Safety projects. For some people (who have financial security), this may be the case. Many, including myself, do not have this security. It does not mean I can’t do any projects until I get enough funds to survive. Rather, it means that I can do only part-time projects (for me, it was organising mentoring programs and leading AI Safety Camp project). Meanwhile, I still think applying to the roles that seem to be a good fit for me makes quite a lot of sense—I would rather spend 40 hours/week working on AI Safety than on a regular job. Maybe it should be something like 80% projects, 20% applying (the numbers are random).
I feel that the percentage of people who can afford not to have paid work and only do AI Safety projects till AGI arrives is not that high. It would be nice to have also a strategy and recommendations, what a person can do for AI Safety with 10 hours/week, or 5, or even 1. I think the boundary where one can do something useful is quite low—even with 5 minutes/week they can e.g. repost stuff in social networks.
I’d consider a job which leaves you slack too do other things as a reasonable example of a financial safety net. Or even the ability to reliably get one if you needed it. Probably worth specifying in a footnote along with other types of safety net?
I think, this condition is important only if I am going to leave my full-time job and switch to unpaid AI Safety projects. For some people (who have financial security), this may be the case. Many, including myself, do not have this security. It does not mean I can’t do any projects until I get enough funds to survive. Rather, it means that I can do only part-time projects (for me, it was organising mentoring programs and leading AI Safety Camp project). Meanwhile, I still think applying to the roles that seem to be a good fit for me makes quite a lot of sense—I would rather spend 40 hours/week working on AI Safety than on a regular job. Maybe it should be something like 80% projects, 20% applying (the numbers are random).
I feel that the percentage of people who can afford not to have paid work and only do AI Safety projects till AGI arrives is not that high. It would be nice to have also a strategy and recommendations, what a person can do for AI Safety with 10 hours/week, or 5, or even 1. I think the boundary where one can do something useful is quite low—even with 5 minutes/week they can e.g. repost stuff in social networks.
I’d consider a job which leaves you slack too do other things as a reasonable example of a financial safety net. Or even the ability to reliably get one if you needed it. Probably worth specifying in a footnote along with other types of safety net?
I think yes, it would help to avoid confusion.