Thank you for writing this post. One thing that I would be interested in as a comparison is another field where there are competing ethical concerns over training and working in it. For example, if I am concerned about global warming but I work at Shell in order to internally advocate for faster build out of renewable energy generation, better ESG, etc. is that a net positive benefit compared to not working there at all?
I am personally sceptical of the ‘change the system from the inside’ approach, but I dont know of any strong evidence either way. In the climate change example though, a common criticism of this approach is that the fossil fuel organisations gain social license and capital to keep developing new projects because they are seen to fund carbon capture research, develop some renewable projects, and so on. It might be worth considering that AI organisations can use ostensibly well funded safety departments and the papers their researchers produce in the same sort of way without it actually addressing dangerous AI developments.
However though, I think you have made a strong case for not withdrawing alltogether, particularly with respect to alignment withdrawal.
Thank you for writing this post. One thing that I would be interested in as a comparison is another field where there are competing ethical concerns over training and working in it. For example, if I am concerned about global warming but I work at Shell in order to internally advocate for faster build out of renewable energy generation, better ESG, etc. is that a net positive benefit compared to not working there at all?
I am personally sceptical of the ‘change the system from the inside’ approach, but I dont know of any strong evidence either way. In the climate change example though, a common criticism of this approach is that the fossil fuel organisations gain social license and capital to keep developing new projects because they are seen to fund carbon capture research, develop some renewable projects, and so on. It might be worth considering that AI organisations can use ostensibly well funded safety departments and the papers their researchers produce in the same sort of way without it actually addressing dangerous AI developments.
However though, I think you have made a strong case for not withdrawing alltogether, particularly with respect to alignment withdrawal.