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https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/deoRjjj9QNkAgfmsW/why-should-anyone-boot-you-up
deoRjjj9QNkAgfmsW
Why should anyone boot *you* up?
onur
Imagine the following scenario: We develop brain-scan technology today which can take a perfect snapshot of anyone's brain, down to the atomic level. You undergo this procedure after you die and your brain scan is kept in some fault-tolerant storage, along the lines of GitHub Arctic Code Vault. But sufficiently cheap r...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WvpNKpL6hJB89cMNe/secular-interpretations-of-core-perennialist-claims
WvpNKpL6hJB89cMNe
Secular interpretations of core perennialist claims
zhukeepa
After the release of Ben Pace's extended interview with me about my views on religion, I felt inspired to publish more of my thinking about religion in a format that's more detailed, compact, and organized. This post is the second publication in my series of intended posts about religion. Thanks to Ben Pace, Chris Laki...
2024-08-25
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3duPFzDDX8myY6q4K/understanding-hidden-computations-in-chain-of-thought
3duPFzDDX8myY6q4K
Understanding Hidden Computations in Chain-of-Thought Reasoning
rokosbasilisk
Recent work has demonstrated that transformer models can perform complex reasoning tasks using Chain-of-Thought (COT) prompting, even when the COT is replaced with filler characters. This post summarizes our investigation into methods for decoding these hidden computations, focusing on the 3SUM task. Background 1. **Ch...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LbNx2ohBmBgFazbjq/the-top-30-books-to-expand-the-capabilities-of-ai-a-biased
LbNx2ohBmBgFazbjq
The top 30 books to expand the capabilities of AI: a biased reading list
Unknown
Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are surprisingly good, but they can’t expand human knowledge because they only interpolate existing information already on the internet. To create new knowledge and solve problems that no human has ever solved, AI needs to be adaptively embodied and be able to build causal m...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Waq7SR3mtxdgvjAmC/august-2024-time-tracking
Waq7SR3mtxdgvjAmC
August 2024 Time Tracking
jkaufman
Every so often ( 2022, 2017, more 2017, 2015, 2011) Julia and will track how we spend our time for a week. This is useful for seeing whether how we're spending our time matches how we think we're spending it (and how we would like to be spending it) while also avoiding a pattern where one of us ends up putting in subs...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/oo5BkydiLFCgvvsxC/looking-for-intuitions-to-extend-bargaining-notions
oo5BkydiLFCgvvsxC
Looking for intuitions to extend bargaining notions
programcrafter
I've come up with two ideas - variations on bargaining ROSE values: qROSE ("quantum" version) - instead of taking average over agents' permutations, mean should be weighted and encompass all "trajectories" - sequences of agents' decisions like [A B A A C B]. I'm not sure what the weights should naturally be, as it seem...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PPDuLtqCtpqmGzEzH/owain-evans-on-situational-awareness-and-out-of-context
PPDuLtqCtpqmGzEzH
Owain Evans on Situational Awareness and Out-of-Context Reasoning in LLMs
mtrazzi
Owain Evans is an AI Alignment researcher, research associate at the Center of Human Compatible AI at UC Berkeley, and now leading a new AI safety research group. In this episode we discuss two of his recent papers, “Me, Myself, and AI: The Situational Awareness Dataset (SAD) for LLMs” (LW) and “Connecting the Dots: LL...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sQxwNBDYAPtStaicr/developing-positive-habits-through-video-games
sQxwNBDYAPtStaicr
Developing Positive Habits through Video Games
Unknown
I wonder if anyone on the forum could share their thoughts on whether it's scientifically possible to develop a video game/app which Strengthens neural circuits involved in developing/maintaining positive habitsBuild any sort of positive habits that transfer to real life decision making Like a virtual morality/discipli...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SoWperLCkunB9ijGq/can-ai-scaling-continue-through-2030-epoch-ai-yes
SoWperLCkunB9ijGq
"Can AI Scaling Continue Through 2030?", Epoch AI (yes)
gwern
We investigate the scalability of AI training runs. We identify electric power, chip manufacturing, data and latency as constraints. We conclude that 2e29 FLOP training runs will likely be feasible by 2030. Introduction In recent years, the capabilities of AI models have significantly improved. Our research suggests th...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D2n5uduYGXuexkv7v/what-s-important-in-ai-for-epistemics-2
D2n5uduYGXuexkv7v
What's important in "AI for epistemics"?
Lanrian
Summary This post gives my personal take on “AI for epistemics” and how important it might be to work on. Some background context: AI capabilities are advancing rapidly and I think it’s important to think ahead and prepare for the possible development of AI that could automate almost all economically relevant tasks tha...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/532ondB4Y4dGWgwuh/what-is-an-appropriate-sample-size-when-surveying-billions
532ondB4Y4dGWgwuh
What is an appropriate sample size when surveying billions of data points?
blake-1
I am surveying Internet web accessibility. We're hoping to draw big conclusions on how accessible the Internet is to people with disabilities. What is the appropriate sample size? We should draw in order to start making our grand conclusions? I went down Google/Perplexity rabbit hole trying to figure out an appropriate...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TMAmHh4DdMr4nCSr5/showing-sae-latents-are-not-atomic-using-meta-saes
TMAmHh4DdMr4nCSr5
Showing SAE Latents Are Not Atomic Using Meta-SAEs
Stuckwork
Bart, Michael and Patrick are joint first authors.  Research conducted as part of MATS 6.0 in Lee Sharkey and Neel Nanda’s streams. Thanks to Mckenna Fitzgerald and Robert Krzyzanowski for their feedback! TL;DR: Sparse Autoencoder (SAE) latents have been shown to typically be monosemantic (i.e. correspond to an interpr...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jeoSoJQLuK4JWqtyy/crafting-polysemantic-transformer-benchmarks-with-known
jeoSoJQLuK4JWqtyy
Crafting Polysemantic Transformer Benchmarks with Known Circuits
evan-anders
Notes: This research was performed as part of Adrià Garriga-Alonso’s MATS 6.0 stream.If an opinion is stated in this post saying that "we" hold the opinion, assume it's Evan's opinion (Adrià is taking a well-deserved vacation at the time of writing).Evan won’t be able to continue working on this research direction, bec...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MhmRigfzyqQGnnbec/what-do-you-expect-ai-capabilities-may-look-like-in-2028
MhmRigfzyqQGnnbec
What do you expect AI capabilities may look like in 2028?
nonzerosum
From the perspective of AI progress, bottlenecks, capabilities, safety - what do you think 2028 might look like?
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/mhCCwq7KEMARBuaT5/invitation-to-lead-a-project-at-ai-safety-camp-virtual
mhCCwq7KEMARBuaT5
Invitation to lead a project at AI Safety Camp (Virtual Edition, 2025)
Linda Linsefors
Do you have AI Safety research ideas that you would like to work on with others? Is there a project you want to do and you want help finding a team? AI Safety Camp could be the solution for you! Summary AI Safety Camp Virtual is a 3-month long online research program from January to April 2025, where participants form ...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G2oyFQFTE5eGEas6m/interpretability-as-compression-reconsidering-sae
G2oyFQFTE5eGEas6m
Interpretability as Compression: Reconsidering SAE Explanations of Neural Activations with MDL-SAEs
kola-ayonrinde
This work was produced as part of the ML Alignment & Theory Scholars Program - Summer 24 Cohort, under mentorship from Lee Sharkey and Jan Kulveit. Note: An updated paper version of this post can be found here. Abstract Sparse Autoencoders (SAEs) have emerged as a useful tool for interpreting the internal representatio...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/X2og6RReKD47vseK8/how-i-started-believing-religion-might-actually-matter-for
X2og6RReKD47vseK8
How I started believing religion might actually matter for rationality and moral philosophy
zhukeepa
After the release of Ben Pace's extended interview with me about my views on religion, I felt inspired to publish more of my thinking about religion in a format that's more detailed, compact, and organized. This post is the first publication in my series of intended posts about religion. Thanks to Ben Pace, Chris Lakin...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kLpFvEBisPagBLTtM/if-we-solve-alignment-do-we-die-anyway-1
kLpFvEBisPagBLTtM
If we solve alignment, do we die anyway?
Seth Herd
Epistemic status: I'm aware of good arguments that this scenario isn't inevitable, but it still seems frighteningly likely even if we solve technical alignment. Clarifying this scenario seems important. TL;DR: (edits in parentheses, two days after posting, from discussions in comments ) If we solve alignment, it will p...
2024-08-23
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wTF8eSqvh8vgfJLWi/interoperable-high-level-structures-early-thoughts-on
wTF8eSqvh8vgfJLWi
Interoperable High Level Structures: Early Thoughts on Adjectives
johnswentworth
Meta: This post is a relatively rough dump of some recent research thoughts; it’s not one of our more polished posts, in terms of either clarity or rigor. You’ve been warned. The Interoperable Semantics post and the Solomonoff Inductor Walks Into A Bar post each tackled the question of how different agents in the same ...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MNry3zpeuw2HfyJJP/interest-poll-a-time-waster-blocker-for-desktop-linux
MNry3zpeuw2HfyJJP
Interest poll: A time-waster blocker for desktop Linux programs
nahoj
I started developing a program à la LeechBlock / Cold Turkey / OneSec to: limit how long I can use a program per day/week/etc. add a short delay "Take a breath. Do you really want to run Xyz?" before starting a program. Right now it's unfinished and unstable. I might invest some time into it if there is interest. Poll ...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DwxbPixw7SsnpBfaa/turning-22-in-the-pre-apocalypse
DwxbPixw7SsnpBfaa
Turning 22 in the Pre-Apocalypse
testingthewaters
Meta comment for LessWrong readers[1] Something Different This Way Comes - Part 1 In which I attempt to renegotiate rationalism as a personal philosophy, and offer my alternative—Game theory is not a substitute for real life—Heuristics over theories Introduction This essay focuses on outlining an alternative to the ide...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/AtJdPZkMdsakLc6mB/training-a-sparse-autoencoder-in-less-than-30-minutes-on
AtJdPZkMdsakLc6mB
Training a Sparse Autoencoder in < 30 minutes on 16GB of VRAM using an S3 cache
louka-ewington-pitsos
Summary 300 million GPT2-small activations are cached on s3, we pull these very quickly onto a g4dn.8xlarge ec2 instance in the same region and use them to train a 24,576 dimensional Switch Sparse Autocoder in 26 minutes (excluding generation time). We achieve similar L0/reconstruction loss to Gao et al. and a low dead...
2024-08-24
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jig8yRHuwhgxN35ue/a-robust-natural-latent-over-a-mixed-distribution-is-natural
jig8yRHuwhgxN35ue
A Robust Natural Latent Over A Mixed Distribution Is Natural Over The Distributions Which Were Mixed
johnswentworth
This post walks through the math for a theorem. It’s intended to be a reference post, which we’ll link back to as-needed from future posts. The question which first motivated this theorem for us was: “Redness of a marker seems like maybe a natural latent over a bunch of parts of the marker, and redness of a car seems l...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TmtX4tJXvRg5JwPjs/what-becoming-more-secure-did-for-me
TmtX4tJXvRg5JwPjs
what becoming more secure did for me
Chipmonk
After I quit my job two years ago, I was conflict-avoidant to the point of depression. I did ~nothing for five months and moved in with my parents in the middle of nowhere. Social conflicts used to rip me up. I would be anxious for days, sometimes months. I was so avoidant of feelings I didn’t know they manifested in t...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dWAmkSqLE4YMQRuhj/a-primer-on-the-current-state-of-longevity-research
dWAmkSqLE4YMQRuhj
A primer on the current state of longevity research
abhishaike-mahajan
Note: This post is co-authored with Stacy Li, a PhD student at Berkeley studying aging biology! Highly appreciate all her help in writing, editing, and fact-checking my understanding! Introduction The last time I read about aging research deeply was around 2021. The general impression I was getting was that aging resea...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fjEM8GhC6KkH2nmSh/some-reasons-to-start-a-project-to-stop-harmful-ai
fjEM8GhC6KkH2nmSh
Some reasons to start a project to stop harmful AI
remmelt-ellen
Hey, I’m a coordinator of AI Safety Camp. Our program has supported many projects in the past for finding technical solutions, and my two colleagues still do! Below is my view on safety, and what made me want to support pause/stop AI projects. With safety, I mean constraining a system’s potential for harm. To prevent h...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G4DjvBPmnHiKe6sBC/dima-s-shortform
G4DjvBPmnHiKe6sBC
Dima's Shortform
dmitrii-krasheninnikov
null
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qGh9suEsb82hzBtSN/ai-78-some-welcome-calm
qGh9suEsb82hzBtSN
AI #78: Some Welcome Calm
Zvi
SB 1047 has been amended once more, with both strict improvements and big compromises. I cover the changes, and answer objections to the bill, in my extensive Guide to SB 1047. I follow that up here with reactions to the changes and some thoughts on where the debate goes from here. Ultimately, it is going to come down ...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FhZzGvyXk6Zo54L5h/how-do-we-know-dreams-aren-t-real
FhZzGvyXk6Zo54L5h
How do we know dreams aren't real?
logan-zoellner
Suppose you believe the following: the universe is infinite in the sense that every possible combination of atoms is repeated an infinite number of times (either because the negative curvature of the universe implies the universe is unbounded or because of MWI)Consciousness is an atomic phenomena[1]. That is to say, th...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/imXMvaNZv5HkBphFa/deception-and-jailbreak-sequence-1-iterative-refinement
imXMvaNZv5HkBphFa
Deception and Jailbreak Sequence: 1. Iterative Refinement Stages of Deception in LLMs
winnie-yang
Executive Overview As models grow increasingly sophisticated, they will surpass human expertise. It is a fundamentally difficult challenge to make sure that those models are robustly aligned (Bowman et al., 2022). For example, we might hope to reliably know whether a model is being deceptive in order to achieve an inst...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Z6qwECn7aJ2tbeeCP/what-s-going-on-with-per-component-weight-updates
Z6qwECn7aJ2tbeeCP
What's going on with Per-Component Weight Updates?
4gate
Hi all, this is my first post on LW. It's a small one, but I want improve my writing, get into the habit of sharing my work, and maybe exchange some ideas in case anyone has already gotten further along some projection of my trajectory. TLDR: I looked at the L2 norm of weight updates/changes to see if it correlates wit...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2gpsa9yZka95pCsTn/just-because-an-llm-said-it-doesn-t-mean-it-s-true-an
2gpsa9yZka95pCsTn
Just because an LLM said it doesn't mean it's true: an illustrative example
abandon
This was originally posted in the comments of You don't know how bad most things are nor precisely how they're bad.; I've broken it out into a post because I think it might be a useful corrective more generally for people inclined to cite LLM remarks as fact. I asked Claude, as an illustrative example, whether ready-ma...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/a4hmwsHFsi3L6iAQk/how-do-you-finish-your-tasks-faster
a4hmwsHFsi3L6iAQk
How do you finish your tasks faster?
Cipolla
I have the following problem: start with a goal that I know how to reach. Everything is there in my mind. But between the start and the finish I stray away from achieving it. It happens like this: I focus on a sub-task. Then, I focus on sub-(sub-task)s. Till I loose my focus. I would like my process to be: finish the g...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/q3QZaNHwCxxkheoTM/ai-safety-newsletter-40-california-ai-legislation-plus
q3QZaNHwCxxkheoTM
AI Safety Newsletter #40: California AI Legislation Plus, NVIDIA Delays Chip Production, and Do AI Safety Benchmarks Actually Measure Safety?
corin-katzke
Welcome to the AI Safety Newsletter by the Center for AI Safety. We discuss developments in AI and AI safety. No technical background required. Listen to the AI Safety Newsletter for free on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. SB 1047, the Most-Discussed California AI Legislation California's Senate Bill 1047 has sparked discus...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9oSySAkTkpKCa8zLn/should-lw-suggest-standard-metaprompts
9oSySAkTkpKCa8zLn
Should LW suggest standard metaprompts?
Dagon
Based on low-quality articles that seem to be coming up with more regularity, and as mentioned in a few recent posts, AI-generated posts are likely to be a permanent feature of LW (and most online forums, I expect).  I wonder if we should focus on harm reduction (or actual value creation, in some cases) rather than try...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZFJGfvfjrN3M7Cdda/eternal-existence-and-eternal-boredom-the-case-for-ai-and
ZFJGfvfjrN3M7Cdda
Eternal Existence and Eternal Boredom: The Case for AI and Immortal Humans
tuan-tu-nguyen
Abstract The idea of immortality understood through artificial intelligence or human existence raises deep questions regarding existential experience and fulfillment. Eternal life might sound very interesting at first, but it presents the possibility of eternal boredom. This paper looks into how an infinite existence c...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eZa37pZtxsQirE84d/please-do-not-use-ai-to-write-for-you
eZa37pZtxsQirE84d
Please do not use AI to write for you
Richard_Kennaway
I've recently seen several articles here that were clearly generated or heavily assisted by AI. They are all dreadful. They are verbose, they are full of "on the one hand" and "on the other", they never make any assertion without also making room for the opposite, and end with "conclusions" that say nothing. Please do ...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WsDsGRTKBCrujwbKd/apply-to-aether-independent-llm-agent-safety-research-group
WsDsGRTKBCrujwbKd
Apply to Aether - Independent LLM Agent Safety Research Group
RohanS
The basic idea Aether will be a small group of talented early-career AI safety researchers with a shared research vision who work full-time with mentorship on their best effort at making AI go well. That research vision will broadly revolve around the alignment, control, and evaluation of LLM agents. There is a lot of ...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/nZcb9TTyneFbxiDav/the-giga-press-was-a-mistake
nZcb9TTyneFbxiDav
the Giga Press was a mistake
bhauth
the giga press Tesla decided to use large aluminum castings ("gigacastings") for the frame of many of its vehicles, including the Model Y and Cybertruck. This approach and the "Giga Press" used for it have been praised by many articles and youtube videos, repeatedly called revolutionary and a key advantage. Most cars t...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rarYpmvzkoEn4GnoD/exploring-the-boundaries-of-cognitohazards-and-the-nature-of
rarYpmvzkoEn4GnoD
Exploring the Boundaries of Cognitohazards and the Nature of Reality
ZT5
Note: Written by GPT-4, as I shouldn't trusted with language right now. Signed by me. I have accepted this as my words. Dear LessWrong Community, I've been reflecting deeply on the fascinating relationship between language, cognition, and the nature of reality. One of the intriguing aspects of our discussions here is t...
2024-08-21
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HECnuCFCHTJkNM3zC/what-is-the-point-of-2v2-debates
HECnuCFCHTJkNM3zC
What is the point of 2v2 debates?
axelahlqvist1995@gmail.com
For instance, I am thinking about the munk debates which in 2023 tackled AI x-risk. I don't see how adding more people to a 1v1 debate makes it better in any way. One of the major frustrations with debates is that it is difficult to get the participants to respond to each other. The goal would be to have the participan...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Bbq6Gogm5cHuLjZRG/where-should-i-look-for-information-on-gut-health
Bbq6Gogm5cHuLjZRG
Where should I look for information on gut health?
FinalFormal2
I've been on a gut health kick, reading Brain Maker, adding more kale for the insoluble fiber, and cutting seed oils and sugar. The author recommends probiotic enemas and fecal transplant, but I've seen mixed information on effectiveness of such treatments, and I also read a concerning article by a professor that seeme...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HET8YqdYcEjqALGqu/hyderabad-rationality-acx-meetup
HET8YqdYcEjqALGqu
Hyderabad Rationality/ACX Meetup
vmehra
ACX Meetups Everywhere - Fall Edition
2024-08-29
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DvGe4debuZvDKBsEm/the-economics-of-space-tethers
DvGe4debuZvDKBsEm
The economics of space tethers
harsimony
Some code for this post can be found here. Space tethers take the old, defunct space elevator concept and shorten it. Rockets can fly up to a dangling hook in the sky and then climb to a higher orbit. If the tether rotates, it can act like a catapult, providing a significant boost in a location where providing thrust i...
2024-08-22
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tXRwp42jjABrgRXzo/would-you-benefit-from-or-object-to-a-page-with-lw-users
tXRwp42jjABrgRXzo
Would you benefit from, or object to, a page with LW users' reacts?
Raemon
There is currently an admin-only page that shows a list of all comments that have been reacted to (in chronological order). Periodically I think "it might just be nice to show this to everyone, and to let them filter by individual reacts, or individual users." The reason individual reacts might be nice is to filter for...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MEa2wtvt559kxGAB7/trying-to-be-rational-for-the-wrong-reasons
MEa2wtvt559kxGAB7
Trying to be rational for the wrong reasons
Viliam
Rationalists are people who have an irrational preference for rationality. This may sound silly, but when you think about it, it couldn't be any other way. I am not saying that all reasons in favor of rationality are irrational -- in fact, there are many rational reasons to be rational! It's just that "rational reasons...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/79BPxvSsjzBkiSyTq/agi-safety-and-alignment-at-google-deepmind-a-summary-of
79BPxvSsjzBkiSyTq
AGI Safety and Alignment at Google DeepMind: A Summary of Recent Work
rohinmshah
We wanted to share a recap of our recent outputs with the AF community. Below, we fill in some details about what we have been working on, what motivated us to do it, and how we thought about its importance. We hope that this will help people build off things we have done and see how their work fits with ours. Who are ...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eXa34sb2TavMTYiQ9/how-great-is-the-utility-of-saving-endangered-languages
eXa34sb2TavMTYiQ9
How great is the utility of "saving" endangered languages?
SpectrumDT
It happens regularly that a natural language goes extinct because the native speakers die off and their descendants no longer speak the language. Some people consider this a great tragedy and argue that we should preserve these endangered languages. It seems to me that the utility of this is very low. Sure, it is sad t...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Z7pTfn4qqnKBoMi42/guide-to-sb-1047
Z7pTfn4qqnKBoMi42
Guide to SB 1047
Zvi
We now likely know the final form of California’s SB 1047. There have been many changes to the bill as it worked its way to this point. Many changes, including some that were just announced, I see as strict improvements. Anthropic was behind many of the last set of amendments at the Appropriations Committee. In keeping...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TSyCk3tyfewfox5nP/finding-deception-in-language-models-1
TSyCk3tyfewfox5nP
Finding Deception in Language Models
esben-kran
This June, Apart Research and Apollo Research joined forces to host the Deception Detection Hackathon. Bringing together students, researchers, and engineers from around the world to tackle a pressing challenge in AI safety; preventing AI from deceiving humans and overseers. The hackathon took place both online and in ...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sXdpjZy6BhmmJLqZq/next-automated-reasoning-grand-challenge-compcert
sXdpjZy6BhmmJLqZq
Next automated reasoning grand challenge: CompCert
sanxiyn
Recently automated reasoning system was developed to solve IMO problems. It is a very impressive and exciting advance, but it must be noted IMO problems are to be solved in two days. Recently it was also proposed to make use of this advance to greatly automate formal verification of practical systems, including advance...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2tKbDKGLXtEHGtGLn/ai-77-a-few-upgrades
2tKbDKGLXtEHGtGLn
AI #77: A Few Upgrades
Zvi
[Apologies for forgetting to cross-post this and the Monthly Roundup earlier.] Let’s see. We’ve got a new version of GPT-4o, a vastly improved Grok 2 with a rather good and unrestricted deepfake and other image generator now baked into Twitter, the announcement of the AI powered Google Pixel 9 coming very soon and also...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2ne9taAPiGqoTLXJJ/monthly-roundup-21-august-2024
2ne9taAPiGqoTLXJJ
Monthly Roundup #21: August 2024
Zvi
Strictly speaking I do not have that much ‘good news’ to report, but it’s all mostly fun stuff one way or another. Let’s go. Bad News Is this you? Patrick McKenzie: This sounds like a trivial observation and it isn’t: No organization which makes its people pay for coffee wants to win. There are many other questions you...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KK9fgv4QyvikX7Ytb/linkpost-automated-design-of-agentic-systems
KK9fgv4QyvikX7Ytb
[Linkpost] Automated Design of Agentic Systems
bogdan-ionut-cirstea
Authors: Shengran Hu, Cong Lu, Jeff Clune. Brief summary: proof of concept of automated LM scaffolding design, with state-of-the-art performance on several tasks. Website: https://www.shengranhu.com/ADAS/. X/twitter summary thread: https://x.com/jeffclune/status/1825551351746867502. Abstract: Researchers are investing ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ff6R5bbEA8CaEpsdL/the-conscious-river-conscious-turing-machines-negate
Ff6R5bbEA8CaEpsdL
The Conscious River: Conscious Turing machines negate materialism
blallo
Many computer scientists and mathematically inclined people subscribe to the idea that consciousness is a phenomenon that emerges from matter. They also believe that any Turing machine can generate consciousness if provided with the correct program. This seems obvious due to the universality of Turing machines. If a Tu...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Paxpr2EkNzBEJTDoF/llm-applications-i-want-to-see
Paxpr2EkNzBEJTDoF
LLM Applications I Want To See
sarahconstantin
Midjourney, “artificial intelligence large language model neural network” I’m convinced that people who are interested in large language models (LLMs) are overwhelmingly focused on general-purpose “performance” at the expense of exploring useful (or fun) applications. As I’m working on a personal project, I’ve been lea...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/67fNBeHrjdrZZNDDK/defining-alignment-research
67fNBeHrjdrZZNDDK
Defining alignment research
ricraz
I think that the concept of "alignment research" (and the distinction between that and "capabilities research") is currently a fairly confused one. In this post I’ll describe some of the problems with how people typically think about these terms, and offer replacement definitions. “Alignment” and “capabilities” are pri...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/B2bg677TaS4cmDPzL/limitations-on-formal-verification-for-ai-safety
B2bg677TaS4cmDPzL
Limitations on Formal Verification for AI Safety
Andrew Dickson
In the past two years there has been increased interest in formal verification-based approaches to AI safety. Formal verification is a sub-field of computer science that studies how guarantees may be derived by deduction on fully-specified rule-sets and symbol systems. By contrast, the real world is a messy place that ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tpQLBodYjDJaBs6RT/artificial-intelligence-and-eternal-torture-and-suffering
tpQLBodYjDJaBs6RT
Artificial Intelligence and Eternal Torture and Suffering
tuan-tu-nguyen
Abstract The development of artificial intelligence brings with it extremely important ethical questions, one of the most alarming being the possibility of eternal torture and suffering inflicted by AI on humans. This paper considers theoretical implications and ethical consequences of the development of highly advance...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XheoJNKBRiuiPpovF/vilnius-acx-meetups-everywhere-fall-2024
XheoJNKBRiuiPpovF
Vilnius – ACX Meetups Everywhere Fall 2024
NoUsernameSelected
Hey folks, We're organizing an ACX meetup in Vilnius this September. We're meeting on Sunday the 22nd, at 3pm in Lukiškių Aikštė. We are few, yet we are mighty. RSVPs are optional. Join us here: https://discord.gg/MrBxnNBKbA
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/nfjf3sc6pMtMfSqvC/apartment-price-map-discontinuity
nfjf3sc6pMtMfSqvC
Apartment Price Map Discontinuity
jkaufman
I maintain a Boston apartment price map, scraping Padmapper's listings to make a heatmap. Each month I run a script to update it, but last month it failed due to an API change. It had been impressively stable: I'd been running the same code unmodified for three years, with only minor modifications since a big rewrite ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jYo667KgYTezoq7h4/will-we-ever-run-out-of-new-jobs
jYo667KgYTezoq7h4
Will we ever run out of new jobs?
KevinKohler
A lot of the debate on long-term, structural technological unemployment can be summarized in three short statements: Concerns about the speed or scope of labor substitution have often been premature or exaggerated in the past.Labor substitution has been very positive for humanity so far. As many old tasks have been aut...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MxbwaNvRRj22ZzjFB/what-are-the-best-resources-for-building-gears-level-models
MxbwaNvRRj22ZzjFB
What are the best resources for building gears-level models of how governments actually work?
adamShimi
One big hole in my set of frames and models of the world is that I don't understand how government works. I don't understand how the government of my native country (France) works, I don't understand how the government of the country I live in (UK) works, I don't understand how the governments of countries that matter ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4kGWZPzH62x65oN9X/cross-post-book-review-bureaucracy-by-james-q-wilson
4kGWZPzH62x65oN9X
[Cross-post] Book Review: Bureaucracy, by James Q Wilson
davekasten
[Cross-posted from my substack, davekasten.substack.com.  {I never said that I was creative at naming things}] Hi, So here are some things I’ve been thinking about while traveling on policy consulting business over the past few months. Bureaucracy, by James Q. Wilson As we’ve discussed previously, a decent description ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/piaeNZBDxXtSjaZ7G/if-ai-is-in-a-bubble-and-the-bubble-bursts-what-would-you-do
piaeNZBDxXtSjaZ7G
If AI is in a bubble and the bubble bursts, what would you do?
remmelt-ellen
"The AI bubble is reaching a tipping point", says Sequoia Capital. AI companies paid billions of dollars for top engineers, data centers, etc. Meanwhile, companies are running out of 'free' data to scrape online and facing lawsuits for the data they did scrape. Finally, the novelty of chatbots and image generators is w...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wXyXtQTCZ8upjgBvZ/beware-the-science-fiction-bias-in-predictions-of-the-future
wXyXtQTCZ8upjgBvZ
Beware the science fiction bias in predictions of the future
nikita-sokolsky
We want to know the future, so we like reading predictions. These predictions can significantly vary in how long their time horizon is: Seconds to Minutes: poker players, high-frequency tradersMinutes to Hours: day traders, in-game sports bettingDays to Weeks: weather forecasts, outcomes of sports tournamentsMonths to ...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xbpig7TcsEktyykNF/thiel-on-ai-and-racing-with-china
xbpig7TcsEktyykNF
Thiel on AI & Racing with China
Benito
This post is a transcript of part of a podcast with Peter Thiel, touching on topics of AI, China, extinction, Effective Altruists, and apocalyptic narratives, published on August 16th 2024. If you're interested in reading the quotes, just skip straight to them, the introduction is not required reading. Introduction Pet...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rKEgi2cBvBwbN2tfX/interdictor-ship
rKEgi2cBvBwbN2tfX
Interdictor Ship
lsusr
The standard operating procedure against a primitive forest-dwelling enemy is to retreat to orbit and then bombard the planet until there isn't a forest anymore. However, the only reason the Galactic Empire was in the Alpha Centauri A system in the first place was because of the fragile mineral resources underneath tha...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qqh4Kg7qyn96BgbNj/why-you-should-be-using-a-retinoid
qqh4Kg7qyn96BgbNj
Why you should be using a retinoid
GeneSmith
If you want the 60 second version of this post that just tells you what to do, click here to skip to the summary. There is a cheap, widely available, extremely effective treatment for skin aging that has been around for decades and almost no one outside of dermatologists and beauty bloggers seems to know about it. It's...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vQF4Jspzi7ZjpnJbv/liability-regimes-for-ai
vQF4Jspzi7ZjpnJbv
Liability regimes for AI
ege-erdil
For many products, we face a choice of who to hold liable for harms that would not have occurred if not for the existence of the product. For instance, if a person uses a gun in a school shooting that kills a dozen people, there are many legal persons who in principle could be held liable for the harm: The shooter them...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XikKvAMHSENMpqYeb/reflecting-on-the-transhumanist-rebuttal-to-ai-existential
XikKvAMHSENMpqYeb
Reflecting on the transhumanist rebuttal to AI existential risk and critique of our debate methodologies and misuse of statistics
catgirlsruletheworld
This morning, I read an article that counter-argues many of our arguments about AI existential risk, and I'm curious what other people's thoughts are on the arguments, linked here: https://darkempressofthevoid.substack.com/p/fck-decels-accelerate.  I outlined my thoughts below, which include both some criticism, though...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TsHPJ7fixmGdKZNZq/a-primer-on-why-computational-predictive-toxicology-is-hard
TsHPJ7fixmGdKZNZq
A primer on why computational predictive toxicology is hard
abhishaike-mahajan
Introduction There are now (claimed) foundation models for protein sequences, DNA sequences, RNA sequences, molecules, scRNA-seq, chromatin accessibility, pathology slides, medical images, electronic health records, and clinical free-text. It’s a dizzying rate of progress. But there’s a few problems in biology that, in...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PcgKjAJDuKqn8FRsG/scaling-laws-and-likely-limits-to-ai
PcgKjAJDuKqn8FRsG
Scaling Laws and Likely Limits to AI
Davidmanheim
null
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/csGLMjCEKJ4WrKtgH/introduction-and-exploration-of-ai-ethics-through-a-global
csGLMjCEKJ4WrKtgH
Introduction and Exploration of AI Ethics Through a Global Lens
thepathyouwillchoose-thepathyouwillchoose
Hello LessWrong Community, My name is Fred, and I am  deeply engaged in exploring the ethical issues surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its societal impacts on a global scale. Recently, I have been working on a novel that delves into these themes, examining how emerging technologies intersect with cultural di...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4KawdpAfFZzhFccMi/what-is-true-love
4KawdpAfFZzhFccMi
What is "True Love"?
johnswentworth
Meta: I recently entered the dating market, so naturally I have lots of random thoughts on the subject which you all get to suffer through for a while. Your usual diet of dry math and agency theory will resume shortly. Obviously the phrase “true love” has been so thoroughly overdone in so much fiction as to lose all su...
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/b65s2pLqnyP89jEmj/quick-look-applications-of-chaos-theory
b65s2pLqnyP89jEmj
Quick look: applications of chaos theory
pktechgirl
Introduction Recently we (Elizabeth Van Nostrand and Alex Altair) started a project investigating chaos theory as an example of field formation.[1] The number one question you get when you tell people you are studying the history of chaos theory is “does that matter in any way?”.[2] Books and articles will list applica...
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Pdo7WpFQmtdAxTmTz/restructuring-pop-songs-for-contra
Pdo7WpFQmtdAxTmTz
Restructuring Pop Songs for Contra
jkaufman
One of the things I like about playing for contra dances is that you have a lot of freedom about what to play. As long as you meet the minimum requirements for danceable music (108-122bpm, contra phrasing) you can do almost anything. And then if you're a bottom left corner band you might want to play some pop covers....
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uA6jWodfoT35jSJNe/the-case-against-moral-realism
uA6jWodfoT35jSJNe
The Case Against Moral Realism
Zero Contradictions
The PDF version can be read here. Moral realism is an explicit version of the ordinary view of morality. It has the following assumptions: Good and evil are objectively real.We have the ability to recognize good and evil.We have an objective moral obligation to do good and not do evil. Likewise, we have an objective mo...
2024-11-07
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7o7jPegxcnPnxXkvd/decision-theory-in-space
7o7jPegxcnPnxXkvd
Decision Theory in Space
lsusr
"Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base," said Grand Moff Tarkin, "I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan." "No. Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons there. It is a loyal planet under Imperial control. Striking Alderaan would destroy...
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xcJj2zjyDDjgtZy2y/you-re-a-space-wizard-luke
xcJj2zjyDDjgtZy2y
You're a Space Wizard, Luke
lsusr
"My father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter," said Luke. "That's what your uncle told you. Basic security protocol. You don't tell a young child sensitive information about your participation in an ongoing civil war. Which reminds me. I have here something for you. Your father wanted yo...
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JxtKnxap2KCymPSA5/green-and-golden-a-meditation
JxtKnxap2KCymPSA5
Green and golden: a meditation
ricraz
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. -William Wordsworth I am exquisitely attuned to humans. Your voi...
2024-08-18
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MT4HNPhnZxRqhExs2/lifelogging-for-alignment-and-immortality
MT4HNPhnZxRqhExs2
Lifelogging for Alignment & Immortality
ethan.roland
Summary: The collection of a massive first-person video dataset for use in large model pretraining is technologically & economically feasible with modest resources. Such a dataset might enable high-fidelity imitation of human behavior, with positive implications for the capabilities and safety of trained models. Such m...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QAPMZap2STyrDAQTp/does-ultimate-neartermism-via-eternal-inflation-dominate
QAPMZap2STyrDAQTp
Does “Ultimate Neartermism” via Eternal Inflation dominate Longtermism in expectation?
Jordan Arel
Epistemic status: While I believe this idea’s consequences could be profound if correct, and it should be taken slightly more seriously than April Fool’s post “Ultra-Near-Termism”,  I consider it mostly a quirky novelty, I’ve spent relatively little time thinking about it and suspect it may have major flaws. At the ver...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fzBHrKfZyociTBB3k/playing-minecraft-with-a-superintelligence
fzBHrKfZyociTBB3k
Playing Minecraft with a Superintelligence
johannes-c-mayer
TLDR: Through concrete scenic descriptions illustrate how I expect naive goal specifications to fail, for getting diamonds in Minecraft. Not much beyond the concrete examples is original. Also checkout the excellent Specification Gaming video by Rational Animations. The Setup I am playing Minecraft. I'd like to have an...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BcrPdMipzqecg4JdQ/the-causal-backbone-conjecture
BcrPdMipzqecg4JdQ
The causal backbone conjecture
tailcalled
Followup to: Rationalists are missing a core piece for agent-like structure (energy vs information overload). Related to: Linear Diffusion of Sparse Lognormals (I don't consider that sequence done yet BTW, I just took a break because I ran out of pre-written posts, so I need to write some more). Response to: Fixing The...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Xfo2HjiHdbeJinjo3/i-didn-t-have-to-avoid-you-i-was-just-insecure
Xfo2HjiHdbeJinjo3
I didn't have to avoid you; I was just insecure
Chipmonk
I don't usually post stories on LessWrong so I'm curious to see how this is received. The first time we spoke, you asked me some questions that felt really invasive. I didn’t want that to happen again, so I avoided you the entire following year. So when you said “Hi” at a party and suggested catching up, I hesitated. B...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rCK6qu2w8pCYquhgg/please-support-this-blog-with-money
rCK6qu2w8pCYquhgg
Please support this blog (with money)
pktechgirl
Short version It has always felt like a gift that people read things I write, and I enjoyed reciprocating that by sharing my writing for free.  Until recently I had enough income to pull that off and still cover material needs. That is no longer true, and while it is not an urgent problem, I would like to solve it whil...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/p3MX4rDmvceQqt3B8/climate-change-and-global-warming
p3MX4rDmvceQqt3B8
Climate Change And Global Warming
Zero Contradictions
1. Understanding Climate Change See: Wikipedia: Climate Change. I support the scientific consensus that climate change and global warming are ongoing, human-caused, and likely to have strong negative consequences for humans, the Earth, and the world’s ecosystems. The evidence is clear that the CO2 levels the Earth’s at...
2024-09-25
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/giH33xzgujApQiZdG/new-blog-expedition-to-the-far-lands
giH33xzgujApQiZdG
New blog: Expedition to the Far Lands
NPCollapse
I have started a new personal blog! I intend to use it to write about more esoteric/lower confidence/epistemologically-sticky topics than elsewhere. You can already read the first post: "Mysticism 101, or: In defence of Natural Language DSLs"
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YZvyQn2dAw4tL2xQY/rationalists-are-missing-a-core-piece-for-agent-like
YZvyQn2dAw4tL2xQY
Rationalists are missing a core piece for agent-like structure (energy vs information overload)
tailcalled
The agent-like structure problem is a question about how agents in the world are structured. I think rationalists generally have an intuition that the answer looks something like the following: We assume the world follows some evolution law, e.g. maybe deterministically like xn+1=f(xn), or maybe something stochastic. T...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ShgAxjgN55gmq47ou/trustworthy-and-untrustworthy-models-1
ShgAxjgN55gmq47ou
Trustworthy and untrustworthy models
jarviniemi
In this post, I’ll talk about trustworthiness, a concept similar to scheming and deceptive alignment. I prefer this concept, as I find it A) is directly important in practice, B) more readily distinguishes between capability for scheming and in fact scheming, and C) is clearer how to evaluate for. I’ll also distinguish...
2024-08-19
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RCJF76MrSKsYC4EGL/how-unusual-is-the-fact-that-there-is-no-ai-monopoly
RCJF76MrSKsYC4EGL
How unusual is the fact that there is no AI monopoly?
Viliam
I may be completely confused about this, but my model of technological breakthroughs in history was basically this: A few guys independently connect the dots leading to a new invention, for example the telephone, approximately at the same time. One of them runs to the patent office a little faster than the others, and ...
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/q9kjq9ciQnFBjcPgE/the-tech-industry-is-the-biggest-blocker-to-meaningful-ai
q9kjq9ciQnFBjcPgE
The Tech Industry is the Biggest Blocker to Meaningful AI Safety Regulations
garrison
null
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/X4S2mMG2bpWwPYGgu/principled-satisficing-to-avoid-goodhart
X4S2mMG2bpWwPYGgu
Principled Satisficing To Avoid Goodhart
JenniferRM
There's an admirable LW post with (currently) zero net upvotes titled Goodhart's Law and Emotions where a relatively new user re-invents concepts related to super-stimuli. In the comments, noggin-scratcher explains in more detail: The technical meaning is a stimulus that produces a stronger response than the stimulus f...
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WsPyunwpXYCM2iN6t/calendar-feature-geometry-in-gpt-2-layer-8-residual-stream
WsPyunwpXYCM2iN6t
Calendar feature geometry in GPT-2 layer 8 residual stream SAEs
patrickleask
TL;DR: We demonstrate that the decoder directions of GPT-2 SAEs are highly structured by finding a historical date direction onto which projecting non-date related features lets us read off their historical time period by comparison to year features. Calendar years are linear: there are as many years between 2000 and 2...
2024-08-17
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZjjLGn2JCGwd4dDuq/the-bar-for-contributing-to-ai-safety-is-lower-than-you
ZjjLGn2JCGwd4dDuq
The Bar for Contributing to AI Safety is Lower than You Think
Chris_Leong
Many people still have a model of AI safety where they assume that the bar for contributing must be really high. I'm here to tell you that this isn't the case. The Value of Good Community Members Even without conducting groundbreaking research, "good community members" play a crucial role in expanding and enriching the...
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/avSArL7CuA2fEKfFD/investigating-the-chart-of-the-century-why-is-food-so
avSArL7CuA2fEKfFD
Investigating the Chart of the Century: Why is food so expensive?
maxwell-tabarrok
You’ve probably seen this chart from Mark Perry at the American Enterprise Institute. I’ve seen this chart dozens of times and have always enjoyed how many different and important stories it can tell. There is a story of the incredible abundance offered by technological growth and globalization. Compared to average hou...
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7fk73b2Ck9yMZZxYT/freedom-of-speech
7fk73b2Ck9yMZZxYT
Freedom of Speech
Zero Contradictions
The PDF version can be read here. The audio version can be listened to here: What is freedom of speech? People often confuse the principle of free speech with a specific law intended to protect free speech, such as the first amendment of the US constitution. Freedom of speech is not a specific law or set of laws. Freed...
2024-08-20
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tfe4sZohKHqcZiT3J/music-in-the-ai-world
tfe4sZohKHqcZiT3J
Music in the AI World
sustrik
The worries that AI will push artists out of business are widespread. If, after all, AI can generate a song in seconds — a task that would require from a human musician years of training, expensive instruments, co-players, and studio time — then why not? My son, aged eleven, has recently used AI to produce a very heart...
2024-08-16
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eGhLDdsA8b4pcAnpg/money-pump-arguments-assume-memoryless-agents-isn-t-this
eGhLDdsA8b4pcAnpg
Money Pump Arguments assume Memoryless Agents. Isn't this Unrealistic?
Darcy
I have been reading about money pump arguments for justifying the VNM axioms, and I'm already stuck at the part where Gustafsson justifies acyclicity. Namely, he seems to assume that agents have no memory. Why does this make sense?[1] To elaborate: The standard money pump argument looks like this. Let's assume (1) A>B>...
2024-08-16