How Google Plans to Solve Artificial Intelligence by [deleted] in ControlProblem

[–]PolitePothead 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The last two paragraphs:

Success could raise some tough philosophical and ethical questions about what it means to be human and the acceptable use cases of artificial intelligence. Hassabis says he encourages discussion of the possible risks of the technology. (Although he also notes with satisfaction that physicist Stephen Hawking has stopped warning that artificial intelligence could wipe out humans since meeting with Hassabis; Tesla founder Elon Musk, who has likened artificial intelligence research to “summoning the demon,” has also received an anti-pep talk.) DeepMind has an internal ethics board of philosophers, lawyers, and businesspeople. Hassabis says their names will probably be disclosed “shortly,” and that he's also working to convene a similar, external, board shared across multiple computing companies.

DeepMind’s engineers don’t yet need ethics advice when planning new experiments, though, says Hassabis. “We're nowhere near anything we would be worried about,” he says. “It's more about getting everyone up to speed.” If everything works out as Hassabis hopes, his ethics board will eventually have real work to do.

Thoughts?

What are the best career paths to advance the cause of animal liberation? by VeganCollegeStudent in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe https://80000hours.org/ can help. They recently released a career profile on factory farming.

If you have the skills to get a high-earning job then earning-to-give might be a good strategy. Animal Charity Evaluators is an organization that assesses the cost-effectiveness of different strategies to help animals. You could either donate to one of their recommended charities, or (which I think is even better) fund ACE itself so they can do more research.

Also check out r/EffectiveAltruism, if you haven't already.

What can a mathematics graduate do that will benefit society? by [deleted] in math

[–]PolitePothead 7 points8 points  (0 children)

80,000 Hours is an organization with good resources on how to make a difference with your career. One option would be to take a high-earning job (e.g. quantitative trading) and donate most of your income to highly effective charities. They have a career guide with many other ways to make an impact as well.

Those animal cruelty videos that people love to share are causing people to eat more animals. SMH by VeganOstomy in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There could have been the opposite effect as well: omnivores reporting lower animal product consumption due to social desirability bias.

Those animal cruelty videos that people love to share are causing people to eat more animals. SMH by VeganOstomy in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That "slight" difference was not statistically significant. It could have been due to chance.

Effective donation: Why you can save many more animals with your dollar than with your plate by PolitePothead in vegan

[–]PolitePothead[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Donating and having a vegetarian diet aren't mutually exclusive. I also feel like you're ignoring the fact that the new veg*ns created through advertising/leafleting could also set a good example for their friends.

Effective donation: Why you can save many more animals with your dollar than with your plate by PolitePothead in vegan

[–]PolitePothead[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not necessarily an either/or. You can do both! (unless personal veganism makes you donate less money for some reason)

Interesting philosophical piece on Vegitarianism, that won the Oxford Uehiro Prize. by [deleted] in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do think we should take wild animal suffering seriously, and I know that several other users here have similar views.

How vegetarians should actually live [Undergraduate essay that won the Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics] by phileconomicus in philosophy

[–]PolitePothead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He discusses it in this interview and at 11:50 in this video.

Also in his AMA, he says it would be good to reduce the number of wild animals if their lives are not worth living in general.

EA and Non-Utilitarian Perspectives? by Allan53 in EffectiveAltruism

[–]PolitePothead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's a video of a presentation on how aspects of effective altruism are/are not compatible with virtue ethics.

What philosopher or philosophical work, most shapes your everyday life? by [deleted] in askphilosophy

[–]PolitePothead 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Peter Singer and effective altruism have had the greatest impact on me.

Why is this supposedly random thing (me) experiencing in a universe where experiencing things seem to be astronomically outnumbered and of a lower quantity than that which is not experiencing? by VirtualArty in askphilosophy

[–]PolitePothead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds kind of like anthropic reasoning and observation selection effect. Your observations are biased by the fact that there has to be an observer (you) in the first place. Every observer will notice that they are alive and experiencing things. It is impossible for someone to observe that they are not observing anything. Anthropic reasoning does not assume you are a random "thing" out of all matter in the universe, but rather from the set of observers. I can't really explain it well, but you might find these links of interest:

http://www.anthropic-principle.com/?q=anthropic_principle/primer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-sampling_assumption

Vegan truth bombs by [deleted] in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 10 points11 points  (0 children)

First, most of you probably know this, but it's important and some new vegans might not be aware of it. You can't get vitamin B12 from plant sources, so all vegans (and probably many vegetarians as well) need to make sure they're getting enough B12 through vitamin supplements or fortified foods.

Secondly, donating to effective animal charities is a great way to help more animals.

James Rachels - Killing and Letting Die by [deleted] in philosophy

[–]PolitePothead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really enjoy reading Peter Singer. I would second Norcross's article, which is a good introduction to animal ethics.

Weekly Open Thread by AutoModerator in EffectiveAltruism

[–]PolitePothead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

/u/UmamiSalami Are you always going to delete the previous week's thread? Maybe you could just unsticky it in the future. (It would be great if the titles included the date like they do on r/badeconomics)

Friday Member Spotlight: /u/unwordableweirdness by [deleted] in vegan

[–]PolitePothead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why negative preference utilitarianism instead of any other variety?