My biggest question: Who brought about the pivot from mosquito nets to AI-Safety? How did that play out? Was it an evolution in thinking, or was it even from the start the kernel of the EA movement's current obsession?
Different key figures switched over at different times. Holden Karnofsky was opposed in 2012 (cf his critique of the Singularity Institute, where he talks about “tool AI”) but came on board much later, after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk voiced support.
Mostly I think it took the EA community a while to absorb the force of the arguments for AI risk, which isn’t so much an “evolution” in thinking as much as completing a thought process.
But it’s worth noting that, to my knowledge (which may be out of date), it was the “elites” in EA that became concerned about AI risk. Many regular EAs remained focused on other causes.
My biggest question: Who brought about the pivot from mosquito nets to AI-Safety? How did that play out? Was it an evolution in thinking, or was it even from the start the kernel of the EA movement's current obsession?
Different key figures switched over at different times. Holden Karnofsky was opposed in 2012 (cf his critique of the Singularity Institute, where he talks about “tool AI”) but came on board much later, after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk voiced support.
Mostly I think it took the EA community a while to absorb the force of the arguments for AI risk, which isn’t so much an “evolution” in thinking as much as completing a thought process.
But it’s worth noting that, to my knowledge (which may be out of date), it was the “elites” in EA that became concerned about AI risk. Many regular EAs remained focused on other causes.