I’m glad to see this, although I think it still doesn’t go far enough. I expect that social science has much to say about minds in general even if it currently focuses mainly on humans or non-human Earth animals in that I believe it is full of insights about how complex “thinking” systems work that, if we asked it to say something about minds or agents in general by weakening certain assumptions, we’d find many interesting ideas to guide safety work. True, some of this has already happened and my impression is that so far people aren’t much impressed by what it’s produced, but I think that more reflects the infancy of AI currently working on things that are not very mind-like yet rather than a general lack of applicability (although this depends greatly on what you think AI systems in the future will look like).
FWIW I also find something slightly patronizing about the general tone of this piece, as if it’s not entirely to say “hey, here’s how you can help” but rather “hey, here’s how you’re allowed to help”, but maybe that’s just me.
I’m glad to see this, although I think it still doesn’t go far enough. I expect that social science has much to say about minds in general even if it currently focuses mainly on humans or non-human Earth animals in that I believe it is full of insights about how complex “thinking” systems work that, if we asked it to say something about minds or agents in general by weakening certain assumptions, we’d find many interesting ideas to guide safety work. True, some of this has already happened and my impression is that so far people aren’t much impressed by what it’s produced, but I think that more reflects the infancy of AI currently working on things that are not very mind-like yet rather than a general lack of applicability (although this depends greatly on what you think AI systems in the future will look like).
FWIW I also find something slightly patronizing about the general tone of this piece, as if it’s not entirely to say “hey, here’s how you can help” but rather “hey, here’s how you’re allowed to help”, but maybe that’s just me.