I work as a researcher in statistical anomaly detection in live data streams. I work at Lancaster University and my research is funded by the Detection of Anomalous Structure in Streaming Settings group, which is funded by a combination of industrial funding and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ultimately the UK Government).
There's a very critical research problem that's surprisingly open - if you are monitoring a noisy system for a change of state, how do you ensure that you find any change as soon as possible, while keeping your monitoring costs as low as possible?
By "low", I really do mean low - I am interested in methods that take far less power than (for example) modern AI tools. If the computational cost of monitoring is high, the monitoring just won't get done, and then something will go wrong and cause a lot of problems before we realise and try to fix things.
This has applications in a lot of areas and is valued by a lot of people. I work with a large number of industrial, scientific and government partners.
Improving the underlying mathematical tooling behind figuring out when complex systems start to show problems reduces existential risk. If for some reason we all die, it'll be because something somewhere started going very wrong and we didn't do anything about it in time. If my research has anything to say about it, "the monitoring system cost us too much power so we turned it off" won't be on the list of reasons why that happened.
I also donate to effective global health and development interventions and support growth of the effective giving movement. I believe that a better world is eminently possible, free from things like lead pollution and neglected tropical diseases, and that everyone should be doing at least something to try to genuinely build a better world.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HgCzbWBwDiu7IusExayeoP?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4
This is the Effective Altruist Quakers WhatsApp. Feel free to join.
For anyone else reading this conversation - the EAQ WhatsApp is basically for people who have already done some kind of "introduction to Quakers", and have actively decided it's for them. It's not really an introductory space and the people are in there are there to be Quakers, not to answer questions about Quakers. There are plenty of introductory Quaker spaces and readings - you can check out Discovering Quakers, or Woodbrooke, or read through Quaker Faith and Practice which is available online.
Great question! Three answers:
We went through this whole thing to justify why we were allowed to book a "Christians-only" venue for a gathering once :D
For what it's worth, if you do understand Quakers to be entirely non-theist, and Meeting for Worship working to be evopsych related to genetic concepts of optimal group decision-making in the context of pre agricultural societies, then a) write more Quaker non-theist theology on that please I want to read it, and b) go pitch more EAs on your Meeting using said theology, because EA clearly has a critical burnout and individualism problem and could use more spiritual traditions.
But the point about seeking an infinite truth that lies beyond words, when you really see it, does actually get people way beyond language divisions. Because if it's true, then it doesn't matter what langage you use, other than for clarity. You can stop defending your position and just understand that others interpret the same thing in their framework.
If we've got in an argument over language, we have really missed the point of Quakers. (alas, this does happen way too often)
So, the point about "Christian sect" is that, assuming you are a Christian and adopt a trinitarian creedal view of God as an actual thing, then you basically have to agree that Quakers are calling on "God the Holy Spirit", whether or not that is what they say or think they are doing. Indeed, Quakers are actually some of the best at doing this consistently, all the time, and get genuine results. Thus, as long as Quakers are Quaker, Christians must regard them as a sect of Christianity, by deed rather than creed.
I totally agree that there are a whole bunch of non-Christian theist Quakers, and a whole bunch of non-theist Quakers, and it doesn't actually matter what your creed is because we (basically) all agree we're doing the same thing.
EA forum is probably not the place to get into theology.
Also I'd be genuinely interested in hearing more how liberal FGC (or other Quaker strands) are finding US EAs. I know of a fair few existing connections, but they seem fairly scattered.
(you can tell I've done this a lot, can't you)
Either that or just do principles-first EA teaching methods on Quakers until they get it. Cite all the relevant testimony in Faith and Practice to make them do the methods. Call it spiritual development of stewardship gifts. Which it is.
Ultimately, it's because the virtues of Principles-first EA, that is:
Are near enough a direct match to (about one third of) Quaker testimony on peace, equality, simplicity, truth. That there really is no Spirit-led driver of separation between Quakers and EA that isn't either:
I understand that EA is about impact, and Quakers is about witness/testimony, which is a difference in the form of virtue ethics framework. Perceptions first actions as natural result, or actions first perceptions as enforced means of generating actions?
But honestly, at that point you're so deep into philosophy chat that it might be best to just call it, go sing Simple Gifts, and have a Meeting for Worship.
Yes, worship sharing with the prompting stuff is good. I use the Experiment with Light prompts and I've also made a few other modifications.
So the way to convince (religiously convinced) Quakers about EAs is to tell them EAs are doing witness to the fact that the Light is in all places and all people and all times, by dialling down on cost-effectiveness as the way they prioritise their altruism. And that one may not be so led that way, but one should respect the leadings of others.
Beyond that it gets into questions of how far your Meeting is actually religious, society, friendly rather than what I'll call "the Secular Clique of Potential Enemies". And if you've a serious problem with that, that's an eldership issue that goes way beyond interactions with EAs.
But if necessary to do eldership on this matter, here's tips:
Ah, you won't get sustained working relationships from a bootcamp. The people who attend bootcamps are your competition, and the people who run bootcamps are teaching context rather than facilitating networking, and don't really have the brain space to form sustained relationships with cohort members.
Unfortunately, EA is full of a lot of people who are job hunting for the same jobs, which makes the community around this activity overly transient and, at times, divisive. I've written twice on this forum about the fact that we need to get better at lowering our infrastructure costs, and having less competitive application processes for infrastructure attendance focused around deeper networking and community capital development.
Finding the more stable, more unified parts of EA will help you build long-term relationships, but you'll probably be (directly or indirectly) expected to put in some money or volunteer time to do so.
If you find someone who gives a substantial amount of money to AI safety, they're probably the kind of person who would assist with your job hunting if you convinced them you're competent. But these kinds of people are found at effective giving focused events and spaces.
I'll continue to recommend a residential at the EA hotel in Blackpool UK. It operates as the shadowy centre of a surprising number of things in AI safety, its staff team are good at providing job hunting assistance, and its alumni network is vast and all over EA. The application process is relatively easy, because it selects for commitment by placing itself outside the Loxbridge bubble. And their £30 a night (food included) Patron rate basically removes the application process, they just check you understand what EA is and agree to follow their code of conduct.
https://aisafety.com/hackathon this is coming up and will likely have the "correct" people in attendance.
Posting reports on the EA forum about things you did, that others can usefully learn from, is another way of building the longer-term relationships. So it's good you found your way here!
Best of luck with the job hunt.