The epic 18k word writeup on Austin's flagship Alpha School is excellent. It is long, but given the blog you’re reading now, if you have interest in such topics I’d strongly consider reading the whole thing.
One must always take such claims and reports with copious salt. But in terms of the core claims about what is happening and why it is happening, I find this mostly credible. I don’t know how far it can scale but I suspect quite far. None of this involves anything surprising, and none of it even involves much use of generative AI.
Rui Ma here gives a shorter summary and offers takeaways compatible with mine.
Table of Contents
- What Is It?
- What It Isn’t.
- Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation.
- High Versus Low Structure Learners.
- I’ve Got a Theory.
- Is This Really The True Objection? [...]
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Outline:
(00:47) What Is It?
(05:00) What It Isn't
(08:56) Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation
(13:30) High Versus Low Structure Learners
(14:06) I've Got a Theory
(17:54) Is This Really The True Objection?
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First published:
July 7th, 2025
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vwNygY4puHunjv6Pk/on-alpha-school
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.