Thank you for doing this Ben. Thank you for navigating a way through all of these issues that have prevented others from doing this.
I have pretty mixed feelings about this. I greatly appreciate and respect the constrains you are operating under and the hard, often thankless work of those involved.
I have a lot of thoughts about this update and the funds in general based on my direct experience as an applicant, from being involved with a number of projects and applications and from what I have heard from others.
I might find the courage to say more about this publicly at some point but I did want to say that my experience with EA Funds, is a significant part of my decision to shut down AI Safety Support.
I've always been surprised that there is no fund you can donate to that is only for AI Alignment. You can either donate directly to an org or project or you can donate to a longtermist fund which is broader than just alignment.
I've tried to argue before that plenty of people are just not that cause neutral and would want to donate to a fund just for alignment. And now that alignment has gone much more mainstream it is even more important that we actually have a legible place for people to donate.
AI Safety has gone mainstream but most people in the world wouldn't have a clue what “longtermism” is.
There's no need to shut down the AI Alignment Slack.
Moderation hasn't been too much of a burden, but it could be better. Would be good to find someone else to take ownership of this.
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