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NIST staffers revolt against expected appointment of ‘effective altruist’ AI researcher to US AI Safety Institute
NIST faces turmoil as staff consider quitting over Paul Christiano's expected appointment to a role at the US AI Safety Institute, sources say.
Christiano, who is known for his ties to the effective altruism (EA) movement and its offshoot, longtermism (a view that prioritizes the long-term future of humanity, popularized by philosopher William MacAskill), was allegedly rushed through the hiring process without anyone knowing until today, one of the sources said. Many say EA — defined by the Center for Effective Altruism as an “intellectual project using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible” — has turned into a cult-like group of highly influential and wealthy adherents (made famous by FTX founder and jailbird Sam Bankman-Fried) whose paramount concern revolves around preventing a future AI catastrophe from destroying humanity. Divyansh Kaushik, associate director for emerging technologies and national security at the Federation of American Scientists, told VentureBeat that regardless of who is appointed to the AISI role, “it is important to ensure that NIST’s mission is not affected by it.”
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