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“Third-wave AI safety needs sociopolitical thinking” by Richard_Ngo

Mar 27, 2025

Richard Ngo, a speaker at EA Global Boston, discusses pressing themes in AI safety and effective altruism with a focus on sociopolitical thinking. He outlines the three waves of AI/EA, the critical need for high-quality socio-political engagement, and critiques environmentalism's unintended consequences. Ngo also analyzes cultural dynamics, exploring contrasting views on talent distribution, and delves into the regulatory factors shaping economic growth and energy policy. He emphasizes a collaborative approach to AI governance in an ever-evolving landscape.

47:27

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Richard Ngo

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Quick takeaways

The third wave of AI safety emphasizes the integration of sociopolitical thinking to navigate the complexities of large-scale interventions responsibly.

Past failures in initiatives like environmentalism highlight the necessity for ethical foresight and critical evaluation in the AI safety movement.

Deep dives

Three Waves of Effective Altruism and AI Safety

The evolution of Effective Altruism (EA) and AI safety is introduced through three distinct waves that illustrate the movement's progression. The first wave, from 2005 to 2013, focused on orientation, where key ideas were developed in forums like the Future of Humanity Institute and Less Wrong, shaping community perspectives. The second wave, spanning 2014 to 2022, marked increased mobilization, highlighted by impactful initiatives such as the establishment of OpenAI and significant publications like 'Superintelligence'. The current third wave emphasizes executing these ideas at a larger scale, addressing real-world implications through events like the FTX collapse and advancements in AI technologies such as ChatGPT.

Intro

4min

Waves of Altruism and AI Safety

7min

Critiquing Environmentalism and AI Safety

18min

Understanding the Dynamics of Culture Wars and Talent Concentration

3min

Regulatory Factors Influencing Economic Growth and Energy Policy

2min

Navigating AI Safety and Governance

14min

At EA Global Boston last year I gave a talk on how we're in the third wave of EA/AI safety, and how we should approach that. This post contains a (lightly-edited) transcript and slides. Note that in the talk I mention a set of bounties I'll put up for answers to various questions—I still plan to do that, but am taking some more time to get the questions right.

Hey everyone. Thanks for coming. You're probably looking at this slide and thinking, how to change a changing world. That's a weird title for a talk. Probably it's a kind of weird talk. And the answer is, yes, it is a kind of weird talk.

So what's up with this talk? Firstly, I am trying to do something a little unusual here. It's quite abstract. It's quite disagreeable as a talk. I'm trying to poke at the things that maybe [...]

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Outline:

(03:09) Three waves of EA and AI safety

(18:24) Sociopolitical thinking and AI

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First published:
March 27th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6YxdpGjfHyrZb7F2G/third-wave-ai-safety-needs-sociopolitical-thinking

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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