Learn why AI safety matters

One of the most important things you can do to help with AI alignment and the existential risk (x-risk) that superintelligence poses, is to learn about it. Here are some resources to get you started.

Videos

• Don’t look up - The Documentary: The Case For AI As An Existential Threat (17 mins). Powerful and nicely edited documentary about the dangers of AI, with many expert quotes from interviews.
• How to get Empowered, not overpowered by AI (15 mins). A brief introduction to the importance of getting AI alignment right.
• Robert Miles’ YouTube videos are a great place to start understanding most of the fundamentals of AI alignment.
• Max Tegmark with Lex interview (2 hrs). Interview that dives into the details of our current dangerous situation. “It’s like ‘Don’t look up’, but we are building the asteroid ourselves.”
• Max Tegmark Ted Talk (2023) (15 mins). AI capabilities are improving quicker than expected.
• The AI Dilemma (1hr). Presentation about the dangers of AI and the race which AI companies are stuck in.
• How not to destroy the world with AI (1hr). Presentation by Stuart Russell.
• Exploring the dangers from Artificial Intelligence (25mins). Summary of cybersecurity, biohazard and power-seeking AI risks.

Websites

• AISafety.info. Very complete database of questions and answers.
• NavigatingAIRisks.ai. A blog with various interesting articles.
• IncidentDatabase.ai. Database of incidents where AI systems caused harm.

Podcasts

• AI X-Risk Research podcast. In-depth interviews with experts in the field of AI alignment.
• Future of Life podcast

Articles

• The ‘Don’t Look Up’ Thinking That Could Doom Us With AI (by Max Tegmark)
• Pausing AI Developments Isn’t Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down (by Eliezer Yudkowsky)
• Preventing an AI-related catastrophe (by 80,000 hours)
• The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence (by WaitButWhy)
• AI Alignment, Explained in 5 Points
• How rogue AIs may arise (by Yoshua Bengio)
• A simple explanation of why advanced AI could be incredibly dangerous

Courses

• AGI safety fundamentals (30hrs)
• CHAI Bibliography of Recommended Materials (50hrs+)
• AIsafety.training: Overview of training programs, conferences, and other events

Organisations

• Future of Life Institute started the open letter, led by Max Tegmark.
• FutureSociety
• Conjecture. Start-up that is working on AI alignment and AI policy, led by Connor Leahy.
• Existential Risk Observatory. Dutch organization that is informing the public on x-risks and studying communication strategies.
• Center for AI Safety (CAIS) is a research center at the Czech Technical University in Prague, led by
• Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI), led by Stuart Russell.
• Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), doing mathematical research on AI safety, led by Eliezer Yudkowsky.
• Centre for the Governance of AI
• Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS)
• The AI Policy Institute
• AI Safety Communications Centre
• TheMidasProject. Corporate pressure campaigns to push for AI safety.

Books

• Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (Nick Bostrom)
• The Alignment Problem (Brian Christian)
• Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control (Stuart Russell)
• Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era (James Barrat)
• The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (Toby Ord)