The AI Impact Initiative
Summary
Advanced AI has the potential to impact every aspect of human life. We are in a critical window of opportunity where we have powerful but temporary leverage to influence the outcome. Only a small group of scientists are currently aware of the central issues, and it is essential to get input from a broader range of thinkers.
The AI Impact Initiative will foster an interdisciplinary framework for the safe and beneficial deployment of advanced AI. We will form a multidisciplinary body of experts to bring a broad perspective to the critical issue of advanced AI's impact on humanity. This effort will involve researchers with expertise in many different fields, including computer science, security, cryptography, economics, industrial organization, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, political theory, decision theory, physics, philosophy, ethics, religious thought, etc.
The AI Impact Initiative will host an inaugural workshop in 2008 or 2009 to bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines, who will begin the process of analyzing the central issues, unifying their insights, and producing strategic recommendations. One of the goals of the AI Impact Initiative is to produce documents that clearly express the central issues so that a broader group of participants may usefully contribute. The AI Impact Initiative's longer term goal is to lay the foundation for a new science to study these issues. Funding allowing, this will involve creating expository materials, building an international network of scientists and scholars, organizing workshops, and creating a comprehensive report to provide direction for future research and development.