No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

National Security Strategy and AI Evals on the Eve of Superintelligence with Dan Hendrycks

Mar 5, 2025

Dan Hendrycks, the Director of the Center for AI Safety and an advisor to xAI and Scale AI, discusses crucial topics around AI's risks. He highlights the stark difference between alignment and safety in AI, underscoring its implications for national security. The potential weaponization of AI is explored, along with strategies like 'mutually assured AI malfunction.' Dan also advocates for policy measures to govern AI development and the need for international cooperation in mitigating risks. His insights reveal the urgency of managing AI’s dual-use nature.

36:24

Episode guests

Dan Hendrycks

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Proactive AI safety measures are crucial, as current efforts are often insufficient and fail to address the geopolitical implications of AI development.

The podcast emphasizes the need for better AI evaluation methods to accurately assess capabilities and inform safety regulations amid competitive international dynamics.

Deep dives

The Importance of AI Safety

AI safety is viewed as a critical area of concern due to the potential risks associated with advanced artificial intelligence. The speaker emphasizes the necessity for proactive measures, noting that, despite AI's significance, safety efforts are often insufficiently addressed by large labs. The discussion highlights the lack of comprehensive safety strategies, especially as AI's implications extend beyond technical issues and into geopolitical arenas. As a result, there is a call for a more systemic approach to managing risks, focusing on potential outcomes and methods to mitigate tail risks.

Intro

3min

Understanding the Nuances of AI Alignment and Safety

2min

AI and National Security: Navigating New Frontiers

16min

Exploring the Dual-Use Nature of Technology and Global Coordination

2min

Navigating AI National Security

8min

Evaluating AI: Challenges and Insights

6min

This week on No Priors, Sarah is joined by Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center of AI Safety. Dan serves as an advisor to xAI and Scale AI. He is a longtime AI researcher, publisher of interesting AI evals such as "Humanity's Last Exam," and co-author of a new paper on National Security "Superintelligence Strategy" along with Scale founder-CEO Alex Wang and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. They explore AI safety, geopolitical implications, the potential weaponization of AI, along with policy recommendations.

Show Notes:

0:00 Introduction

0:36 Dan’s path to focusing on AI Safety

1:25 Safety efforts in large labs

3:12 Distinguishing alignment and safety

4:48 AI’s impact on national security

9:59 How might AI be weaponized?

14:43 Immigration policies for AI talent

17:50 Mutually assured AI malfunction

22:54 Policy suggestions for current administration

25:34 Compute security

30:37 Current state of evals

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