Questions for Jaan Tallinn’s fireside chat in EAGxAPAC this weekend

By BrianTan @ 2020-11-17T02:12 (+13)

Hey all, I’ll be hosting a 30-minute fireside chat with Jaan Tallinn in the EAGxAsia-Pacific conference happening this weekend, and I’d like to get your thoughts and suggestions on what questions I should ask him.

For those that don't know Jaan, you can learn more about him on Wikipedia and in this Vox article. You can also watch or read this fireside chat with him in EAG SF 2018.

Here are some questions I’ve come up with that I am thinking of asking him, roughly in this order. I may come up with a few follow-up questions though on the spot:

1. What buckets of projects/activities do you spend your time on currently, and how do you divide your time across these activities?
2. I have heard you use the metaphor of the drill and the city to talk about the risks from AI before. Could you explain that metaphor for the audience today?
3. What have you changed your mind on or updated your beliefs the most on when it comes to AI risks within the last 2 years?
4. Many AI researchers still disagree on when human-level AI would be created, but around when do you personally think this would be created? How has this view of yours updated within the last 2 years?
5. Are you working on or supporting any projects, activities, or people from the Asia-Pacific region currently?
6. What projects or organizations would you like to see started in the Asia-Pacific region? How willing or excited would you be to fund these?
7. Some effective altruists subscribe to the view of patient longtermism, that instead of focusing on reducing specific existential risks this century, we should expect that the crucial moment for longtermists to act lies in the future, and our main task today should be to prepare for that time. What are your thoughts about this view?
8. What would you like to see happen in the effective altruism community in the Asia-Pacific region within the next 3 years?

I’ve pasted these questions as comments below, and you can upvote the ones you would want me to ask. If there are topics or questions you think I should consider asking him too, comment them down below. It would also be good for you to include some rationale on why you want him to answer that question. Thanks!