Khalid E.

Math + CS @edinburghuni, 10% Pledge 🔸 @givingwhatwecan; pedantic; interested in things

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

Reading the right books by the right people when they're published is enough. For example, Yuval, who's very accessible, published Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century in 2016 and 2018 respectively, and there's many others.

Also, dabbling in the right communities e.g. LessWrong exposes you to these ideas. You just have to be intentional with your information diet; it's easier now than ever to be inundated with noise.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@dumbassgenius @factpostnews Won't matter when we're all dead because of their slapdash.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@RapidResponse47 "Whoever wins AI, WINS!"
Wins what exactly?

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

It'll probably take some shock factor to have people seriously wake up, because it seems like a lot of people still consider the prospect of AI causing human extinction far-fetched science fiction – not something worth paying real attention to today. If they are worried about AI, it's to do with job displacement.

Something that affects the public has to happen (i.e., not like the Hugging Face incident) to make the threat feel real, and stir everybody into collective action (assuming it's recoverable).

Rational Animations posted a good video on this topic today: https://t.co/icsdmfJxge

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@robbensinger @clairlemon @allTheYud @sapinker Excellent write-up!

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@acmfedaisi @MCToxinYT @CelticsGlacial @buck4orlife Because it's conducive to positive outcomes for society and, broadly, humanity – how is that not a rational reason? Would you rather live in anarchy?

Our net livelihood is better off if people don't, for example, kill each other.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@DjangoGinelli @birchlse You've completely missed the point

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@qufres @akbereo Ignoring the fact that he didn't write that – no they didn't. The company script uses general maxims as proof while conveniently ignoring all nuance. It's obviously ChatGPT'd.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@guychristensen_ Yeah, cause assaulting people you don't like will help Palestine.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@cb_doge Yeah, by 2030, sure – what about 2050? 2070? He won't be alive then, so he doesn't care. He also seems to be scared of publicly disagreeing with the president, since Trump isn't exactly known for being stable.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@RebbouhHind @Linahuaa The Qur'an isn't an original text; a lot of elements are inspired by the Torah and Bible (plus other beliefs from e.g. Zoroastrianism)

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@SandoKatsuZilla @crumbraven @cs_coville @DoWCTO @DeptofWar @DOWResponse @WhiteHouse W straw man

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@YannPerrodIFNB @pegobry_en You sound like Trump on his alt

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

It's sort of like racing to ASI – I don't agree with the consequentialist approach. Even if you think unaligned ASI is inevitable, it shouldn't mean you race towards it as recklessly as possible. Similarly, even if you think the fiscal system is fundamentally flawed, it shouldn't mean wasting money and misallocation are suddenly acceptable.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@SandoKatsuZilla @DoWCTO @DeptofWar @DOWResponse @WhiteHouse Sure, but fundamental reform and better allocation aren’t mutually exclusive. I don't deny the system is broken, but that doesn't mean you can't do better while it's still intact.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

I agree with much of what you've said more broadly, but my point was conditional, and really quite simple: given that government and taxation already exist, we can do a lot better with how that money is spent, with caveats – so we're mostly arguing past each other. But yes – private charity should be separated; people are free to donate as they wish, but we could do a better job of teaching how to make those donations more effective.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@SandoKatsuZilla @DoWCTO @DeptofWar @DOWResponse @WhiteHouse The world isn't black-or-white. You're attacking a position I don't even hold, ignoring all caveats.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

I mentioned the current administration because well... they're currently in charge. It would apply to any administration, anywhere in the world. A lot of countries already loosely apply effectively altruistic policy, but there's still a lot of misallocation which could be improved.

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

@Bias_Zebra 💀

[Khalid E. @khalidelra]

If you're ever doubting yourself, just remember that this spectacularly inept department somehow controls a $1 trillion budget – a sum greater than the GDP of 175 entire countries. You can just do things.

[Department of War CTO @DoWCTO]

The United States will NEVER be an effective altruist country. 🇺🇸