Calling something a “pragmatic middle ground” doesn’t imply that there aren’t better options
I think the objection here is more about what is loosely suggested by the language used, and what is not said—not about logical implications. What is loosely suggested by the ARC Evals language is that it’s not sensible to aim for the more “extreme” end of things (pausing), and that this isn’t worthy of argument.
Perhaps ARC Evals have a great argument , but they don’t make one. I think it’s fair to say that they argue the middle ground is practical. I don’t think it can be claimed they argue for pragmatic until they address both the viability of other options, and the risks of various courses. Doing a practical thing that would predictably lead to higher risk is not pragmatic.
It’s not clear what the right course here, but making no substantive argument gives a completely incorrect impression. If they didn’t think it was the right place for such an argument, then it’d be easy to say that: that this is a complex question, that it’s unclear this course is best, and that RSPs vs Pause vs … deserves a lot more analysis.
Yeah, I probably want to walk back my claim a bit. Maybe I want to say “doesn’t strongly imply”?
It would have been better if ARC evals noted that the conclusion isn’t entirely obvious. It doesn’t seem like a huge error to me, but maybe I’m underestimating the ripple effects etc.
Yeah, I probably want to walk back my claim a bit. Maybe I want to say “doesn’t strongly imply”?
It would have been better if ARC evals noted that the conclusion isn’t entirely obvious. It doesn’t seem like a huge error to me, but maybe I’m underestimating the ripple effects etc.