even if the experiments do not deter us from running boxed AI, they might allow us to know what arguments to prepare for.
You're missing the point. If you ever find yourself in a situation where a human operator with the ability to let the AI out is listening to arguments from the AI, or even in a situation where the AI is doing unaudited computation, you are doing it wrong and already failed. The entire setup of the AI box game is bogus to begin with, in that it doesn't reflect in any way a realistic oracle AI box construction or breakout scenario.
AFAICT there is a considerable amount of processing power & information required in this case, and limiting these factors while precommiting not to let the AI out could minimize the risk.
Yes, that is basically the pathway towards a realistic AI box. UFAI need not be treated as black boxes: they are performing computation, and that computation is energetically bounded and can be audited.
If the AI is meant to be much smarter than us, what auditing can we usefully do? I wouldn't think much of our chances of getting any useful information from auditing the computation done by an ordinary human brain, never mind a possibly superhuman AI. (I can imagine that auditing might enable to tell it hadn't been corrupted by viruses or something, but surely that's far from the biggest concern.)
How are you saving the world? Please, let us know!
Whether it is solving the problem of death or teaching rationality, one of the correlated phenomena of being less wrong is making things better. Given the value many of us place on altruism, this extends beyond just ourselves and into that question of, “How can I make The Rest better?” The rest of my community. The rest of my country. The rest of my species. The rest of my world. To word it in a less other-optimizing way: How can I save the world?
So, tell us how you are saving the world. Not how you want to save the world. Not how you plan to. How you are, actively, saving the world. It doesn’t have to be “I invented a friendly AI,” or “I reformed a nation’s gender politics” or “I perfected a cryonics reviving process.” It can be a simple goal (“I taught a child how to recognize when they use ad hominen” or "I stopped using as much water to shower") or a simple action as part of a larger plan (such as “I helped with a breakthrough on reducing gas emissions in cars by five percent”).
If we accept this challenge of saving the world, then let us be open and honest with our progress. Let us put our successes on display and our shortcomings as well, so that both can be recognized, recommended, and, if need be, repaired.
If you are not doing anything to save the world, even something as simple as “learning about global risks” or “encouraging others to research a topic before deciding on it”? Then find something. Find a goal and work for it. Find an act that needs doing and do it.
Then tell us about it.