LessWrong (Curated & Popular)
Episodes
"The Waluigi Effect (mega-post)" by Cleo Nardo
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D7PumeYTDPfBTp3i7/the-waluigi-effect-mega-postIn this article, I will present a mechanistic explanation of the Waluigi...
"Acausal normalcy" by Andrew Critch
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3RSq3bfnzuL3sp46J/acausal-normalcyCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technical jargon than usua...
"Please don't throw your mind away" by TsviBT
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RryyWNmJNnLowbhfC/please-don-t-throw-your-mind-away[Warning: the following dialogue contains an incidental spoiler for...
"Cyborgism" by Nicholas Kees & Janus
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bxt7uCiHam4QXrQAA/cyborgismThere is a lot of disagreement and confusion about the feasibility and risks associated wit...
"Childhoods of exceptional people" by Henrik Karlsson
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CYN7swrefEss4e3Qe/childhoods-of-exceptional-peopleThis is a linkpost for https://escapingflatland.substack.com/p/child...
"What I mean by "alignment is in large part about making cognition aimable at all"" by Nate Soares
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NJYmovr9ZZAyyTBwM/what-i-mean-by-alignment-is-in-large-part-about-makingCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May c...
"On not getting contaminated by the wrong obesity ideas" by Natália Coelho Mendonça
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NRrbJJWnaSorrqvtZ/on-not-getting-contaminated-by-the-wrong-obesity-ideasA Chemical Hunger (a), a series by the authors...
"SolidGoldMagikarp (plus, prompt generation)"
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/aPeJE8bSo6rAFoLqg/solidgoldmagikarp-plus-prompt-generationWork done at SERI-MATS, over the past two months, by Jessica...
"Focus on the places where you feel shocked everyone's dropping the ball" by Nate Soares
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zp6wG5eQFLGWwcG6j/focus-on-the-places-where-you-feel-shocked-everyone-sWriting down something I’ve found myself repe...
"Basics of Rationalist Discourse" by Duncan Sabien
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XPv4sYrKnPzeJASuk/basics-of-rationalist-discourse-1IntroductionThis post is meant to be a linkable resource. Its core ...
"My Model Of EA Burnout" by Logan Strohl
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pDzdb4smpzT3Lwbym/my-model-of-ea-burnout(Probably somebody else has said most of this. But I personally haven't r...
"Sapir-Whorf for Rationalists" by Duncan Sabien
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PCrTQDbciG4oLgmQ5/sapir-whorf-for-rationalistsCasus Belli: As I was scanning over my (rather long) list of essays-to-w...
"The Social Recession: By the Numbers" by Anton Stjepan Cebalo
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Xo7qmDakxiizG7B9c/the-social-recession-by-the-numbersThis is a linkpost for https://novum.substack.com/p/social-recess...
"Recursive Middle Manager Hell" by Raemon
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pHfPvb4JMhGDr4B7n/recursive-middle-manager-hellI think Zvi's Immoral Mazes sequence is really important, but come...
"The Feeling of Idea Scarcity" by John Wentworth
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/mfPHTWsFhzmcXw8ta/the-feeling-of-idea-scarcityHere’s a story you may recognize. There's a bright up-and-coming ...
"Models Don't 'Get Reward'" by Sam Ringer
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TWorNr22hhYegE4RT/models-don-t-get-rewardCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technical jargon th...
"How 'Discovering Latent Knowledge in Language Models Without Supervision' Fits Into a Broader Alignment Scheme" by Collin
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/L4anhrxjv8j2yRKKp/how-discovering-latent-knowledge-in-language-models-withoutCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. ...
"The next decades might be wild" by Marius Hobbhahn
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qRtD4WqKRYEtT5pi3/the-next-decades-might-be-wildCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technical ja...
"Lessons learned from talking to >100 academics about AI safety" by Marius Hobbhahn
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SqjQFhn5KTarfW8v7/lessons-learned-from-talking-to-greater-than-100-academicsCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. M...
"How my team at Lightcone sometimes gets stuff done" by jacobjacob
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6LzKRP88mhL9NKNrS/how-my-team-at-lightcone-sometimes-gets-stuff-doneDisclaimer: I originally wrote this as a private d...
"Decision theory does not imply that we get to have nice things" by So8res
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rP66bz34crvDudzcJ/decision-theory-does-not-imply-that-we-get-to-have-niceCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May ...
"What 2026 looks like" by Daniel Kokotajlo
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6Xgy6CAf2jqHhynHL/what-2026-looks-like#2022Crossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technical jargon ...
Counterarguments to the basic AI x-risk case
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Introduction to abstract entropy" by Alex Altair
29 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/REA49tL5jsh69X3aM/introduction-to-abstract-entropy#fnrefpi8b39u5hd7This post, and much of the following sequence, was ...
"Consider your appetite for disagreements" by Adam Zerner
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8vesjeKybhRggaEpT/consider-your-appetite-for-disagreementsPokerThere was a time about five years ago where I was tryin...
"My resentful story of becoming a medical miracle" by Elizabeth
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fFY2HeC9i2Tx8FEnK/my-resentful-story-of-becoming-a-medical-miracleThis is a linkpost for https://acesounderglass.com/2...
"The Redaction Machine" by Ben
02 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CKgPFHoWFkviYz7CB/the-redaction-machineOn the 3rd of October 2351 a machine flared to life. Huge energies coursed into...
"Without specific countermeasures, the easiest path to transformative AI likely leads to AI takeover" by Ajeya Cotra
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pRkFkzwKZ2zfa3R6H/without-specific-countermeasures-the-easiest-path-toCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May con...
"The shard theory of human values" by Quintin Pope & TurnTrout
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iCfdcxiyr2Kj8m8mT/the-shard-theory-of-human-valuesTL;DR: We propose a theory of human value formation. According to th...
"Two-year update on my personal AI timelines" by Ajeya Cotra
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/AfH2oPHCApdKicM4m/two-year-update-on-my-personal-ai-timelines#fnref-fwwPpQFdWM6hJqwuY-12Crossposted from the AI Alignm...
"You Are Not Measuring What You Think You Are Measuring" by John Wentworth
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9kNxhKWvixtKW5anS/you-are-not-measuring-what-you-think-you-are-measuringEight years ago, I worked as a data scientist ...
"Do bamboos set themselves on fire?" by Malmesbury
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WNpvK67MjREgvB8u8/do-bamboos-set-themselves-on-fireCross-posted from Telescopic Turnip.As we all know, the best place ...
"Survey advice" by Katja Grace
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/oyKzz7bvcZMEPaDs6/survey-adviceThings I believe about making surveys, after making some surveys:If you write a questio...
"Toni Kurz and the Insanity of Climbing Mountains" by Gene Smith
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/J3wemDGtsy5gzD3xa/toni-kurz-and-the-insanity-of-climbing-mountainsContent warning: deathI've been on a YouTube bi...
"Deliberate Grieving" by Raemon
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gs3vp3ukPbpaEie5L/deliberate-grieving-1This post is hopefully useful on its own, but begins a series ultimately abou...
"Toolbox-thinking and Law-thinking" by Eliezer Yudkowsky
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/s/6xgy8XYEisLk3tCjH/p/CPP2uLcaywEokFKQGTl;dr:I've noticed a dichotomy between "thinking in toolboxes" and &qu...
"Local Validity as a Key to Sanity and Civilization" by Eliezer Yudkowsky
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Humans are not automatically strategic" by Anna Salamon
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PBRWb2Em5SNeWYwwB/humans-are-not-automatically-strategicReply to: A "Failure to Evaluate Return-on-Time" Fal...
"Language models seem to be much better than humans at next-token prediction" by Buck, Fabien and LawrenceC
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/htrZrxduciZ5QaCjw/language-models-seem-to-be-much-better-than-humans-at-nextCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum....
"Moral strategies at different capability levels" by Richard Ngo
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jDQm7YJxLnMnSNHFu/moral-strategies-at-different-capability-levelsCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain ...
"Worlds Where Iterative Design Fails" by John Wentworth
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xFotXGEotcKouifky/worlds-where-iterative-design-failsCrossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technic...
"(My understanding of) What Everyone in Technical Alignment is Doing and Why" by Thomas Larsen & Eli Lifland
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QBAjndPuFbhEXKcCr/my-understanding-of-what-everyone-in-technical-alignment-isDespite a clear need for it, a good sourc...
"Unifying Bargaining Notions (1/2)" by Diffractor
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rYDas2DDGGDRc8gGB/unifying-bargaining-notions-1-2Crossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more technical j...
'Simulators' by Janus
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vJFdjigzmcXMhNTsx/simulators#fncrt8wagfir9SummaryTL;DR: Self-supervised learning may create AGI or its foundation. Wha...
"Humans provide an untapped wealth of evidence about alignment" by TurnTrout & Quintin Pope
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CjFZeDD6iCnNubDoS/humans-provide-an-untapped-wealth-of-evidence-about#fnref7a5ti4623qb Crossposted from the AI Align...
"Changing the world through slack & hobbies" by Steven Byrnes
30 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DdDt5NXkfuxAnAvGJ/changing-the-world-through-slack-and-hobbies Introduction In EA orthodoxy, if you're really...
"«Boundaries», Part 1: a key missing concept from utility theory" by Andrew Critch
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8oMF8Lv5jiGaQSFvo/boundaries-part-1-a-key-missing-concept-from-utility-theory Crossposted from the AI Alignment Foru...
"ITT-passing and civility are good; "charity" is bad; steelmanning is niche" by Rob Bensinger
24 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MdZyLnLHuaHrCskjy/itt-passing-and-civility-are-good-charity-is-bad I often object to claims like "charity/steelm...
"What should you change in response to an "emergency"? And AI risk" by Anna Salamon
23 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/mmHctwkKjpvaQdC3c/what-should-you-change-in-response-to-an-emergency-and-ai Related to: Slack gives you the ability ...
"On how various plans miss the hard bits of the alignment challenge" by Nate Soares
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3pinFH3jerMzAvmza/on-how-various-plans-miss-the-hard-bits-of-the-alignment Crossposted from the AI Alignment Forum....
"Humans are very reliable agents" by Alyssa Vance
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/28zsuPaJpKAGSX4zq/humans-are-very-reliable-agents Over the last few years, deep-learning-based AI has progressed ext...
"Looking back on my alignment PhD" by TurnTrout
08 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2GxhAyn9aHqukap2S/looking-back-on-my-alignment-phd The funny thing about long periods of time is that they do, eventu...
"It’s Probably Not Lithium" by Natália Coelho Mendonça
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7iAABhWpcGeP5e6SB/it-s-probably-not-lithium A Chemical Hunger (a), a series by the authors of the blog Slime Mold Tim...
"What Are You Tracking In Your Head?" by John Wentworth
02 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bhLxWTkRc8GXunFcB/what-are-you-tracking-in-your-head A large chunk - plausibly the majority - of real-world experti...
"Security Mindset: Lessons from 20+ years of Software Security Failures Relevant to AGI Alignment" by elspood
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ke2ogqSEhL2KCJCNx/security-mindset-lessons-from-20-years-of-software-securityBackgroundI have been doing red team, blu...
"Where I agree and disagree with Eliezer" by Paul Christiano
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CoZhXrhpQxpy9xw9y/where-i-agree-and-disagree-with-eliezer#fnh5ezxhd0an by paulfchristiano, 20th Jun 2022. Crosspost...
"Six Dimensions of Operational Adequacy in AGI Projects" by Eliezer Yudkowsky
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/keiYkaeoLHoKK4LYA/six-dimensions-of-operational-adequacy-in-agi-projects by Eliezer Yudkowsky Editor's note: T...
"Moses and the Class Struggle" by lsusr
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pL4WhsoPJwauRYkeK/moses-and-the-class-struggle "𝕿𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖔𝖋𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖘𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖆...
"Benign Boundary Violations" by Duncan Sabien
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/T6kzsMDJyKwxLGe3r/benign-boundary-violations Recently, my friend Eric asked me what sorts of things I wanted to have ...
"AGI Ruin: A List of Lethalities" by Eliezer Yudkowsky
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uMQ3cqWDPHhjtiesc/agi-ruin-a-list-of-lethalities Crossposted from the AI Alignment Forum. May contain more tec...