MIRI needs volunteers to proofread our soon-to-be-released publications, such as Eliezer's "Intelligence Explosion Microeconomics." Some reasons to get involved:

  • Get a sneak peek at our publications before they become publicly available.
  • Earn points at MIRIvolunteers.org, our online volunteer system that runs on Youtopia. (Even if you're not interested in the points, tracking your time through Youtopia helps us manage and quantify the volunteer proofreading effort.)
  • Having polished and well-written publications is of high-value to MIRI.
  • Help speed up our publication process. Proofreading is currently our biggest bottle-neck.

Some of the papers that are sitting in the pipeline and ready for proofreading right now (or will be very soon):

  • "Avoiding Unintended AI Behaviors" by Bill Hibbard
  • "Decision Support for Safe AI Design" by Bill Hibbard
  • "A Comparison of Decision Algorithms on Newcomblike Problems" by Alex Altair
  • "Intelligence Explosion Microeconomics" by Eliezer Yudkowsky

How proofreading works:

  • Youtopia, with the help of some shared Google Docs, is used to manage and track the available documents and who's proofread what.
  • Proofreading entails checking for basic grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors; pointing out areas of confusion or concern; and making general style and flow suggestions.
  • Don't worry, you don't have to proofread entire documents, just as many individual pages as you like.
  • (This is explained in more detail once you've joined the MIRI Proofreaders group.)

How to join Youtopia and specifically the MIRI Proofreaders group:

  1. Go go MIRIvolunteers.org.
  2. In the right sidebar click on Register as a Volunteer and fill out your info.
  3. Once your Youtopia account is created (this could take a day or two), head here and click on "Join Organization.”
  4. Once your membership is approved you will have have access to detailed proofreading instructions and draft versions of our publications.

Questions can be directed to alexv@intelligence.org.

New Comment
9 comments, sorted by Click to highlight new comments since:

Once you're Youtopia account is created

your. I guess you guys do need the help. :p

Signed up.

Fixed, thanks. :-P

Started the sign up process now. Thanks!

Signing up now.

How long will this be available? I'm fairly busy right now, but will likely have some time opening up in a month or so.

For a long time, assuming it works well. Definitely for the next few months.

Hey Alex, I see no Proofreading task at Youtopia!

-- Vikki Cvichiee

You need to specifically join the MIRI Proofreaders group. Once in Youtopia, go here and click on Join Organization. Hope that helps!

Done!