"Thoughts on responsible scaling policies and regulation" by Paul Christiano

Oct 30, 2023

This podcast discusses the importance of responsible scaling policies in AI development and how they can reduce risk. The podcast emphasizes that voluntary commitments are not enough and that regulation is necessary to ensure a higher degree of safety. Transparency and debate around responsible scaling policies can help improve regulation. The podcast also explores the role of responsible scaling policies in informing effective regulation and promoting safe development practices.

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Introduction

00:00 • 3min

Thoughts on Responsible Scaling Policies and Regulation in AI Development

02:36 • 3min

Regulation and the Role of Responsible Scaling Policies in AI Development

05:15 • 3min

Towards Clearer Evaluations and Audits for Responsible Scaling

08:05 • 3min

I am excited about AI developers implementing responsible scaling policies; I’ve recently been spending time refining this idea and advocating for it. Most people I talk to are excited about RSPs, but there is also some uncertainty and pushback about how they relate to regulation. In this post I’ll explain my views on that:

I think that sufficiently good responsible scaling policies could dramatically reduce risk, and that preliminary policies like Anthropic’s RSP meaningfully reduce risk by creating urgency around key protective measures and increasing the probability of a pause if those measures can’t be implemented quickly enough.
I don’t think voluntary implementation of responsible scaling policies is a substitute for regulation. Voluntary commitments are unlikely to be universally adopted or to have adequate oversight, and I think the public should demand a higher degree of safety than AI developers are likely to voluntarily implement.
I think that developers implementing responsible scaling policies now increases the probability of effective regulation. If I instead thought it would make regulation harder, I would have significant reservations.
Transparency about RSPs makes it easier for outside stakeholders to understand whether an AI developer’s policies are adequate to manage risk, and creates a focal point for debate and for pressure to improve.
I think the risk from rapid AI development is very large, and that even very good RSPs would not completely eliminate that risk. A durable, global, effectively enforced, and hardware-inclusive pause on frontier AI development would reduce risk further. I think this would be politically and practically challenging and would have major costs, so I don’t want it to be the only option on the table. I think implementing RSPs can get most of the benefit, is desirable according to a broader set of perspectives and beliefs, and helps facilitate other effective regulation

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dxgEaDrEBkkE96CXr/thoughts-on-responsible-scaling-policies-and-regulation

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