the EAs have access to so much money that other orgs have to dance to their tune, and are discovering the professionals think the EAs are fucking nutters

the comments are darling also

  • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
    20·
    6 days ago

    At the local AI safety co-working space

    ok this is gonna be a doozy

    Plenty of things professionals consider serious AI work (bias, misinformation, labor displacement, near-term harms) are donkey sanctuaries to at least some parts of the rationalist funding ecosystem, and perhaps it would be useful to make that common knowledge, but that legibility will come at the cost of resentment.

    for context, “donkey farms” is shorthand for wooly-headed small-scale thinking, not Rationalist

    I’m squarely in the rationalist camp, which means that when I see a problem my default response is to write a post and publish it publicly.

    so how has that been working out for you so far “jenn”?

    anyway my prediction is that there’s gonna be a ton of money donated to a bunch of dodgy orgs, some people will profit handsomely, and in about 4 years it will all have blown over and no-one will mention it ever again

    • istewart@awful.systemsEnglish
      9·
      6 days ago

      for context, “donkey farms” is shorthand for wooly-headed small-scale thinking, not Rationalist

      Ah, a version of the YCombinator pejorative “lifestyle business” tailored for the nonprofit sector. How droll.

    • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
      51·
      5 days ago

      so how has that been working out for you so far “jenn”?

      OK so I was a bit unfair on OP

      she’s got a weird blend of stuff on her site: https://jenn.site/ Her recollection of her closeted dad is quite moving, but there’s an awful lot of Rationalist virtue-signalling.

        • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
          6·
          5 days ago

          I am not saying it’s all bad, I’m saying there’s a tiny amount of good.

          Also, from the piece

          It’s very uncharacteristic for modern art museums and the commentariat to not engage with the sexual themes or undertones with works on display, they’re not exactly prudish institutions!

          next para

          this is literally the first art show I’ve been to in my life that was prestigious enough that there is coverage and discourse about it.

          ok then

          • maol@awful.systemsEnglish
            3·
            4 days ago

            Sorry, I guess I phrased my reply badly, I get what you mean about the weird blend (and the article you linked is actually well written), but having seen that dog fucking article I felt the need to inflict the horror on others so I wouldn’t be alone.