
The Compendium - Connor Leahy and Gabriel Alfour
Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)
Intro
This chapter addresses the pressing issues surrounding intelligence and AI alignment, underscoring the necessity for collaborative scientific initiatives. It introduces Tufa Labs, a new AI research entity in Zurich, dedicated to advancing the understanding of large language models amidst an urgent need for enhanced safety measures.
Connor Leahy and Gabriel Alfour, AI researchers from Conjecture and authors of "The Compendium," joinus for a critical discussion centered on Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) safety and governance. Drawing from their comprehensive analysis in "The Compendium," they articulate a stark warning about the existential risks inherent in uncontrolled AI development, framing it through the lens of "intelligence domination"—where a sufficiently advanced AI could subordinate humanity, much like humans dominate less intelligent species.
SPONSOR MESSAGES:
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Tufa AI Labs is a brand new research lab in Zurich started by Benjamin Crouzier focussed on o-series style reasoning and AGI. They are hiring a Chief Engineer and ML engineers. Events in Zurich.
Goto https://tufalabs.ai/
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TRANSCRIPT + REFS + NOTES:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p86l75y4o2ii40df5t7no/Compendium.pdf?rlkey=tukczgf3flw133sr9rgss0pnj&dl=0
https://www.thecompendium.ai/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connor_Leahy
https://www.conjecture.dev/about
https://substack.com/@gabecc
TOC:
1. AI Intelligence and Safety Fundamentals
[00:00:00] 1.1 Understanding Intelligence and AI Capabilities
[00:06:20] 1.2 Emergence of Intelligence and Regulatory Challenges
[00:10:18] 1.3 Human vs Animal Intelligence Debate
[00:18:00] 1.4 AI Regulation and Risk Assessment Approaches
[00:26:14] 1.5 Competing AI Development Ideologies
2. Economic and Social Impact
[00:29:10] 2.1 Labor Market Disruption and Post-Scarcity Scenarios
[00:32:40] 2.2 Institutional Frameworks and Tech Power Dynamics
[00:37:40] 2.3 Ethical Frameworks and AI Governance Debates
[00:40:52] 2.4 AI Alignment Evolution and Technical Challenges
3. Technical Governance Framework
[00:55:07] 3.1 Three Levels of AI Safety: Alignment, Corrigibility, and Boundedness
[00:55:30] 3.2 Challenges of AI System Corrigibility and Constitutional Models
[00:57:35] 3.3 Limitations of Current Boundedness Approaches
[00:59:11] 3.4 Abstract Governance Concepts and Policy Solutions
4. Democratic Implementation and Coordination
[00:59:20] 4.1 Governance Design and Measurement Challenges
[01:00:10] 4.2 Democratic Institutions and Experimental Governance
[01:14:10] 4.3 Political Engagement and AI Safety Advocacy
[01:25:30] 4.4 Practical AI Safety Measures and International Coordination
CORE REFS:
[00:01:45] The Compendium (2023), Leahy et al.
https://pdf.thecompendium.ai/the_compendium.pdf
[00:06:50] Geoffrey Hinton Leaves Google, BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65452940
[00:10:00] ARC-AGI, Chollet
https://arcprize.org/arc-agi
[00:13:25] A Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett
https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Intelligence-Humans-Breakthroughs/dp/0063286343
[00:25:35] Statement on AI Risk, Center for AI Safety
https://www.safe.ai/work/statement-on-ai-risk
[00:26:15] Machines of Love and Grace, Amodei
https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace
[00:26:35] The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, Andreessen
https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/
[00:31:55] Techno-Feudalism, Varoufakis
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Technofeudalism-Killed-Capitalism-Yanis-Varoufakis/dp/1847927270
[00:42:40] Introducing Superalignment, OpenAI
https://openai.com/index/introducing-superalignment/
[00:47:20] Three Laws of Robotics, Asimov
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Three-Laws-of-Robotics
[00:50:00] Symbolic AI (GOFAI), Haugeland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_artificial_intelligence
[00:52:30] Intent Alignment, Christiano
https://www.alignmentforum.org/posts/HEZgGBZTpT4Bov7nH/mapping-the-conceptual-territory-in-ai-existential-safety
[00:55:10] Large Language Model Alignment: A Survey, Jiang et al.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.15025
[00:55:40] Constitutional Checks and Balances, Bok
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/
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