In recent years, we’ve seen rapid progress in artificial intelligence. There’s a strong possibility that AI systems will soon outperform humans in nearly all cognitive domains.
We think AI could be the most important technological development in human history. If handled well, it could accelerate scientific discovery, improve health outcomes, and create unprecedented prosperity. If handled poorly, it could lead to catastrophic consequences: many experts think that risks from AI-related misuse, loss of control, or drastic societal change could endanger human civilization.
https://coefficientgiving.org/funds/navigating-transformative-ai/
Several leading institutions are already treating frontier AI as posing catastrophic risks:
Some leaders disagree:
Meta’s chief scientist Yann LeCun, for example, has called extinction worries “preposterous,” arguing that AI can be engineered to be safe.
Other influential scientists, such as Gary Marcus, Andrew Ng, and Melanie Mitchell have shared scepticism about the potentially existential risks and transformative effects of AI.
https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/artificial-intelligence/#objections-and-replies (”It's hard to believe AI could really pose existential risks.” section.)
“We’d estimate that there are actually (just) a few thousand people focusing their work on the most important risks raised by AGI. But to put that into perspective, Nature Conservancy alone has 3,000–4,000 employees, and it’s just one of many organisations working on environmental protection and climate change. Other global issues like public health also receive a lot of attention — for example, the World Health Organisation employs over 8,000 people.” - https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/artificial-intelligence/#5-work-on-these-problems-is-tractable-but-neglected
Funders hope to give away tens of billions of dollars into AI Safety in the coming years - https://multipliercg.substack.com/p/ai-safety-is-extremely-bottlenecked, https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp/status/2056856368745726238
400 open roles (Mostly UK, US or remote) - https://jobs.80000hours.org/ (how many is this comparatively?)
For futher exploration (or discussion) book a call with me, check out self-study resources or nice 80k’s materials, or apply for short Bluedot’s courses to learn together in a cohort of 5 people with an experienced facilitator.