This is my first-time posting on the EA Forum, so here goes.... I did the EA intro course last spring (very good!) and it fired up an already well-developed interest in AI safety. I then took the AI Safety, Ethics and Society course at the Center for AI Safety. Again, it was excellent and fascinating, but very worrying.
Coming out of this, I had a good meeting last week with a shadow cabinet minister discussing the risks of superintelligence.
Here's the problem -- for all of our passionate, intense anxiety about the topic, our message has not got through to Westminster. There seems to very little thinking going on on issues that are blindingly obvious to us, and the preparation that should be being done just isn't happening.
I now have a list of lobbying actions that I'm going to take to try to move things forward.
But shouldn't we all be getting out there and getting our message across to our elected representatives?
I have often found that the way to get things done is to have face-to-face meetings with people. Fortunately, MPs have constituency surgeries where any constituent can have 10-15 minutes with them to discuss issues that matter. They can be a bit scary the first time you attend them, but MPs are used to that and are very good, in my experience, at helping you through that.
Emails are not enough -- MPs are deluged by emails and social media messages from campaign groups. If these are read at all, they are read and gone in only a few seconds. By meeting an MP at one of their constituency surgeries, you have 10 - 15 minutes of their mind space and that is so much better for making an impact. (All the information you need will be on the MP's website.)
Our message is not getting through, and, as a result, nothing real is being done. If we care about AI safety, shouldn't we ALL be out there, 'lobbying'?
What do you think?
You might be interested in looking into the work ControlAI is doing in the UK. They'd probably disagree with your point that the message is "not getting through", given they claim that 100+ Parliamentarians support their campaign. There also have been various debates in parliament, in particular in the Lords in AI safety, where lots of people spoke in support (e.g. this one)
Thanks for this great first post. I agree with your main point "We are not getting through". There's a weird disconnect with the public knowing more about AI safety and getting more concerned, while people in power and AI industry leaders seem less worried than ever. Claude is really nice to talk to so its fine right alignment solved?
I like your bent towards action too.
I'm not sure the correct answer is that we should "ALL" be out there lobbying, but yes there's no reason why someone shouldn't talk to every MP in their office hours. Unfortunately my brief experience has been that the personality of the average EA (especially in AI safety) isn't inclined towards getting out there and having awkward conversations with people who don't think like them.
I wonder sometimes whether AI safety people could "hire" a team from the Humane league or something who have proved themselves to be good at this kind of thing.