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This may already be obvious, but have you consider talking to 80,000 Hours or AI Safety Support?
Seeking advice on impactful career paths given my unique capabilities and interests
1 min readMar 31, 2023
This may already be obvious, but have you consider talking to 80,000 Hours or AI Safety Support?
Just to clarify, is this a serious post or an April Fools' post? It reads like a serious post but I think some people are treating it as the latter.
I think (given the username of the poster and some acquaintance with those who prompted this post) that it would take the efforts of many interpretability researchers to even guess as to whether there was serious intent, humorous intent, or any intent at all behind the writing of this post.
What was the prompt given?
Hello everyone!
I've recently discovered the ideas and philosophy of effective altruism, and I'm very excited about it. I'd like to make sure that I have an impactful career, and I'm writing this post to seek your advice on what I should do, given my situation and cause prioritization.
A bit about me: I have a strong background in computer science, with a focus on natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Over the years, I have been involved in several research projects and collaborations that aimed to advance the state of the art in these fields. I have gained experience in developing and optimizing algorithms for tasks such as text classification, sentiment analysis, and information extraction. Additionally, I have worked on implementing large-scale machine learning models, which has allowed me to become proficient in handling big data and using various programming languages and tools.
My altruistic interests lean towards long-term future causes, such as AI safety and existential risk reduction. I'm also passionate about ensuring that the benefits of AI and other advanced technologies are distributed fairly among all of humanity. While I understand that many effective altruists prioritize global health and poverty alleviation, my abilities seem to be better suited for addressing long-term challenges.
Given my unique capabilities and interests, I'd love to get some advice on potential career paths that could allow me to maximize my positive impact. Specifically, I'm interested in:
I'd also appreciate any input on how to ensure my work aligns with the principles of effective altruism and avoids inadvertently causing harm or perpetuating inequality.
Thank you all in advance for your help and guidance. I'm eager to learn from your experiences and insights, and I'm committed to using my abilities for the greater good.
Best regards,
A passionate effective altruist
Thanks to Lizka Vaintrob for prompting me to write this, and to Jonathan Michel for input.
I am absolutely enamorhorrified by the earnestness on display here. Please, please continue with your research to make sure your work stays aligned with our principles. Actually, maybe just take a nap. A really really long nap.