Former Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) researcher Tsvi Benson-Tilsen is championing an audacious path to prevent AI doom: engineering smarter humans to tackle AI alignment.
I consider this one of the few genuinely viable alignment solutions, and Tsvi is at the forefront of the effort. After seven years at MIRI, he co-founded the Berkeley Genomics Project to advance the human germline engineering approach.
In this episode, Tsvi lays out how to lower P(doom), arguing we must stop AGI development and stigmatize it like gain-of-function virus research. We cover his AGI timelines, the mechanics of genomic intelligence enhancement, and whether super-babies can arrive fast enough to save us.
I’ll be releasing my full interview with Tsvi in 3 parts. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!
Timestamps
0:00 Episode Preview & Introducing Tsvi Benson-Tilsen
1:56 What’s Your P(Doom)™
4:18 Tsvi’s AGI Timeline Prediction
6:16 What’s Missing from Current AI Systems
10:05 The State of AI Alignment Research: 0% Progress
11:29 The Case for PauseAI 15:16 Debate on Shaming AGI Developers
25:37 Why Human Germline Engineering
31:37 Enhancing Intelligence: Chromosome Vs. Sperm Vs. Egg Selection
37:58 Pushing the Limits: Head Size, Height, Etc.
40:05 What About Human Cloning?
43:24 The End-to-End Plan for Germline Engineering
45:45 Will Germline Engineering Be Fast Enough?
48:28 Outro: How to Support Tsvi’s Work
Show Notes
Tsvi’s organization, the Berkeley Genomics Project — https://berkeleygenomics.org
If you’re interested to connect with Tsvi about germline engineering, you can reach out to him at BerkeleyGenomicsProject@gmail.com.
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