Bitcoin News Australia

Dear Bankless Nation,

Like most people thinking about the role of tech in society, we've been focusing more and more on artificial intelligence. It's a topic that may feel out-of-scope for a publication devoted to crypto and financial independence, but it's becoming clear that AI will touch everything.

We just had a pretty mind-blowing conversation about the much-discussed AI alignment problem and we think you should listen to it. It's going live later today in Early Access just for Citizens.

– Bankless team

Why you need to listen to our conversation with Paul Christiano

Bankless Writer: David Hoffman

COMING SOON 👀

We aren't ones to pull the fire-alarm on something unless we see it as truly mission-critical.

Crypto is always under attack. Banks want to capture it. Governments want to kill it. Rogue actors want to exploit it. Crypto is built to survive under even the worst adversarial conditions. But when something comes along that is so big that even crypto is threatened, we need to sound the alarm.

The AI's are coming for our blockchains.

Yes, I’m talking about the AI alignment problem.

A couple months ago we had Eliezer Yudkowsky on, who told us we are almost certainly past the point of solving the AI alignment problem in time – before the virus escapes the lab and takes over the internet.

Then we talked to Robin Hanson, who’s been debating Eliezer on this front for over a decade now, and he said: “yes, while possible… still not probable”

Later today, we’re releasing our third conversation on AI alignment, this one with Paul Christiano, who is the world's leading explorer on the journey of solving AI alignment.

Citizens get the chance to listen to this first later today, but don't worry we're not hoarding this intel. Free listeners can hear it when it drops wide on Monday.

Christiano runs the Alignment Research Center, an organization which is tackling the alignment problem head-on. He previously ran the language model alignment team at OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, so he knows a thing or two about what’s going on right now.

In our conversation, we asked Paul: “What are our chances of the AI alignment doom scenario playing out?”

To be honest, his answer wasn’t too optimistic.

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Paul Christiano… the leading expert of actually creating solutions to AI alignment… said that there’s a 10-20% chance of AI misalignment that leads to a catastrophic outcome for the human race. 10-20%… those odds are low(ish), but this is about the fate of the entire human species! There’s a lot to lose in that 10-20%!

This is why we’re sounding the alarm. The alignment problem needs to be taken seriously. This isn’t just Christiano saying this. Max Tegmak, another major expert on the topic, called for a 6-month pause on all AI development so that safety experts can get a grip on what’s happening.

This is not a drill.

The AI alignment problem is perhaps the largest moloch-trap that the human species will need to navigate in our lifetimes. We need to get everyone to see the problem, and to coordinate around it. This is why we have been talking about coordination and moloch since the inception of Bankless. It’s all coordination, all the way down.

And now, Bankless Nation, it’s time to flex this muscle. This is what we’ve been training for. Spread the word. Educate. Make it a big deal, because it is a big deal.

When you watch this episode, you’ll know what I mean.

The prerequisite for experiencing the future of crypto is to first make sure that humanity survives. Or else, this would have all been for naught 🫡

Action Steps

• 🏴 Become a Citizen and Watch our interview with Paul Christiano going live in Early Access later today