Just in the last few weeks, the issue of AI safety has suddenly broken into the political mainstream. What was once a fairly niche debate within the worlds of tech and philosophy is now on the front pages. And the question of AI is, predictably enough, quickly turning into a partisan issue, with the President opposing heavy federal guardrails, and the Democrats calling for aggressive regulation.
Today's episode is about the subculture from which the AI safety movement emerged. Rationalism – which is tightly entwined with Effective Altruism – is an intellectual movement popular among millennials working in tech.
My guest today is the writer and tech worker Jacob Falkovich, who describes himself as a post-rationalist. As you'll hear, it's pretty hard to find someone who actually calls themselves a 'rationalist' (that's the nature of the subculture), but Jacob is willing to make an earnest defence of rationalism, and of Effective Altruism, and of the AI safety movement.
These are interesting and – I think – very influential subcultures. If we want to understand the AI safety movement, then we need to understand rationalism.
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