AGI.WTF

There has been a lot of media attention on the craziness of things going on in AI recently. Many people are trying to make sense of what is going on. The organizers of this event have found that when they are having a hard time making sense of some part of the world, it can be extremely helpful to talk it through with other people who have been spending a lot of time thinking about the same thing. That is what conferences are for, and so this seems like a good time for a conference.

AGI: Artificial General Intelligence

WTF: a very reasonable reaction to the current situation

The event is run by Lightcone Infrastructure (which runs Lighthaven and Lesswrong.com). Ronny Fernandez specifically is currently taking lead on this Lightcone project.

This event is for people who are trying to make sense of current events in and around AI. That includes people who think about:

• the fact that AI could be a pretty big deal, on par with the internet
• society might change as a result of new technology
• the strategy behind AI company decisions and communications
• the plausibility of sci-fi-sounding claims about what a future with advanced AI might be like

Yep. Things are moving fast in AI and in the public discussion, and we are doing our best to keep up.

The timeline in Card 02 covers a lot of what happened in the last two months, and links to further reading. Some of our friends and colleagues just made AGI.FYI, which recommends writing and other media about serious big-picture risks related to AI development, but there are many perspectives it doesn't include.

If you want to stay completely on top of AI news, we applaud your efforts, and please let us know if you figure out how to do that.

Mostly, you’ll have a bunch of conversations with other people who wanted to come think through all this. There will also be a track of (optional) talks and presentations. When you buy a ticket, we'll send you an invitation to Waypoint (our conference coordination software), where you can talk to other people who have purchased tickets, write about what you have been thinking about or want to understand better, and schedule one-on-ones with other attendees.

Email Ronny Fernandez at ronny@lightconeinfrastructure.com.

The schedule is on Waypoint, our conference coordination app. You'll get a confirmation email with Waypoint signup link after you buy a ticket.

Doors open at 10:00 am on September 22. The venue will be open 24 hours a day until the event ends at 11:59pm on Sept 23.

Waypoint is our conference coordination app. After you purchase a ticket, your confirmation email will include a link to your Waypoint account. Log in and fill out your profile. You can then schedule one-on-ones with other conference attendees there.

Yes, there will be lunch and dinner on both September 22 and September 23.

When you buy a ticket, you will get a confirmation email that includes a room booking link. You can book a room there.

Yes, a ticket to this conference.

I think the future goes marginally better if people who choose to come to this event have an opportunity to orient with other such people, because they will learn from each other, and then go on to express themselves better in the public discussion and make better choices relevant to influencing the future when such opportunities are available. All of that holds even if I am deeply wrong about everything I think about AI, but there are specific things I think about AI that make me think that is true.

Look, yeah I think there’s a pretty good chance that AI permanently disempowers humanity and that this is catastrophically bad. On my view, there are other possible outcomes, but all of the plausible ones seem pretty crazy.

Only if it’s true and I can convince you of it with valid arguments. Otherwise I want to either fail to convince you, or if my views are actually false, find out that I am wrong.

Some of them probably do. Others probably want to convince you of some other point of view. I and the other organizers are trying pretty hard to invite people who have a variety of different views, so that you can sample a cacophony of perspectives on the future of the world.

Different Lightcone employees, speakers, invitees, etc will have different motivations, but my motivation is something like: I want to understand how people who are starting to consider these topics for the first time are thinking about them. What are your primary uncertainties? Wonders? What are your primary concerns? How are you trying to reduce their uncertainty? I basically want to understand where you are at with respect to crazy AI stuff in a very broad sense of that phrase. Many other people here will have similar motivations.

Most of the people I know who have sophisticated models of AI and its effects on the future think that it make sense to take AI x-risk very seriously. I would love to invite other speakers who have strong models of how AI will affect the future and have very different intellectual backgrounds from me, but I don’t have as strong connections with such folks. If you know of any who you would like to hear from or you think would benefit from coming to an event like this, please reach out.