Hey all
I found out about LessWrong through a confluence of factors over the past 6 years or so, starting with Rob Miles' Computerphile videos and then his personal videos, seeing Aella make rounds on the internet, and hearing about Manifold, which all just sorta pointed me towards Eliezer and this website. I started reading the rationality a-z posts about a year ago and have gotten up to the value theory portion, but over the past few months I've started realizing just how much engaging content there is to read on here. I just graduated with my bachelor's and I hope to get involved with AI alignment (but Eliezer paints a pretty bleak picture for a newcomer like myself (and I know not to take any one person's word as gospel, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little disheartening)).
I'm not really sure how to break into the field of AI safety/alignment, given that college has left me without a lot of money and I don't exactly have a portfolio or degree that scream machine learning. I fear that I would have to go back and get an even higher education to even attempt to make a difference. Maybe, however, this is where my lack of familiarity in the field shows, because I don't actually know what qualifications are required for the positions I'd be interested in or if there's even a formal path for helping with alignment work. Any direction would be appreciated.
Heads up, the first two links (in "-- The Open-Source Wish Project, Wish For Immortality 1.1") both link to scam/spam websites now
typo?
"In particularly, I've noticed people get confused when..."
should say 'particularly' or 'in particular'
Typo?
"Early studiers of cults were surprised to discover than when cults receive a major shock"
Should say "...to discover that when cults..."
Additional Context that I realized might be useful for anyone that wants to offer advice:
I'm in my early 20's, so when I say 'portfolio' there's nothing really there outside of hobby projects that aren't that presentable to employers, and my degree is like a mix of engineering and physics simulation. Additionally, I live in Austin, so that might help with opportunities, yet I'm not entirely sure where to look for those.