The proportion of junior researchers doing interp rather than other technical work is too high
I think that's because it's almost the only thing that junior researchers can productively work on.
Even if mech interp isn't in itself useful I'd guess it's pretty useful as a souce of endless puzzles to help people skill up in doing technical ML work.
I disagree. I have seen plenty of young researchers being unproductive doing interp. Writing code does not necessarily mean being productive.
There are a dozen different streams in seri mats, and interp is only one of them. I don't quite understand how you can be so sure that Interp is the only way to level up.
I think that's because it's almost the only thing that junior researchers can productively work on.
Even if mech interp isn't in itself useful I'd guess it's pretty useful as a souce of endless puzzles to help people skill up in doing technical ML work.