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So8res comments on The mechanics of my recent productivity - Less Wrong
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Comments (47)
This is an unrelated question, but I think it's important. You mention:
Presumably, you have a pretty high salary if you're working for Google and presumably you're giving that up to go work for MIRI directly. Not that I think you're wrong, but how did you come to the decision that working for MIRI directly was preferable to working for Google and donating large portions of your salary to MIRI?
Research associateship isn't a full time MIRI position -- I'll be doing research in addition to my day job.
By the way, what exactly is your position at Google?
Also, will you agree to update this post in a year or two to add some perspective?
Update, ~1 year later: I am a full-time MIRI research fellow now, and it's been one hell of a year.
I've maintained my high productivity consistently since last year. I wrote twelve papers over the course of the year, nine as the primary author, three as a secondary author. I compiled the MIRI technical agenda and the MIRI research guide. I attended five conferences, and I've flown around the world to talk with many different people about related topics. I've learned a ton.
Public discourse about AI x-risk has advanced far faster than I expected, thanks in large part to Bostrom's Superintelligence and the the Future of Life institute. The field is growing much faster than expected. These are exciting times, and I'm grateful that I was granted the opportunity to throw myself into the thick of things.
9 single author research papers is extremely impressive! Well done.
Software Engineer. I'm happy to post an update in a year or two, but you may need to remind me then.
Thank you. I will try to remember.
If you send an email to "1year@followupthen.com" with a reminder for yourself, you'll get an email reminder in 1 year.
Cool, thanks. I should have known that someone had devised a simple electronic solution to the problem :)
There's still an opportunity cost to working at Google - you could be spending more time working for MIRI. Why work at Google when you could be spending that time working for MIRI?
Google subsidizes that particular opportunity cost (by paying me), and that I donate a fair portion of my salary to MIRI. I haven't been at this long enough to be confident I can produce more value via research than donation.
Furthermore, there's a significant cost to not working elsewhere: I need money to live. MIRI has limited resources with which to support full time researchers, and if/when they do start supporting new full time researchers I should certainly not be at the top of the list. I have recently demonstrated some skill and drive, but I have a long way to go before I can match the productivity of others who are just as driven and far more knowledgable.