“80,000 hours should remove OpenAI from the Job Board (and similar EA orgs should do similarly)” by Raemon

EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)

I haven't shared this post with other relevant parties – my experience has been that private discussion of this sort of thing is more paralyzing than helpful. I might change my mind in the resulting discussion, but, I prefer that discussion to be public.

I think 80,000 hours should remove OpenAI from its job board, and similar EA job placement services should do the same.

(I personally believe 80k shouldn't advertise Anthropic jobs either, but I think the case for that is somewhat less clear)

I think OpenAI has demonstrated a level of manipulativeness, recklessness, and failure to prioritize meaningful existential safety work, that makes me think EA orgs should not be going out of their way to give them free resources. (It might make sense for some individuals to work there, but this shouldn't be a thing 80k or other orgs are systematically funneling talent into)

There [...]

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Outline:

(04:41) FAQ / Appendix

(04:51) Q: It seems that, like it or not, OpenAI is a place transformative AI research is likely to happen, and having good people work there is important.

(05:02) Isnt it better to have alignment researchers working there, than not? Are you sure youre not running afoul of misguided purity instincts?

(07:06) Q: What about jobs like security research engineer?.

(07:12) That seems straightforwardly good for OpenAI to have competent people for, and probably doesnt require a good Safety Culture to pay off?

(08:09) Q: What about offering a path towards good standing? to OpenAI?

(10:44) Q: What if we left up job postings, but with an explicit disclaimer linking to a post saying why people should be skeptical?

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First published:
July 3rd, 2024

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DjCXPkGDisS6oj6Ga/80-000-hours-should-remove-openai-from-the-job-board-and

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.