Mary Martin

A lot of effective altruism organizations have made AI x-risk their top cause in the last few years,” explains Sayash Kapoor from Princeton. “That means a lot of the people who are getting funding to do AI research are naturally inclined, but also have been specifically selected, for their interest in reducing AI x-risk.”

Thus, the interest in AI... See more

I believe that in nearly every instance where science fiction has successfully ‘predicted’ a turn of events, it’s more true to say that it has inspired that turn of events.

Racist attitudes like Galton’s were not uncommon among the British aristocracy at the heights of colonialism, but Galton gave them scientific backing. He had the authority of a world traveler, in the tradition of Victorian naturalists like his half-cousin aboard the Beagle. His assessment of the supposed inferiority of others to white Britons was... See more

Are mental health awareness efforts contributing to the rise in reported mental health problems? A call to test the prevalence inflation hypothesis

My observation is that leadership teams get caught in a cycle of addressing long-term risk with rigid, short-term solutions, and in the process they invite entropy. Teams that rely on traditional linear timelines get caught in a cycle of tactical responses to what feels like constant change being foisted upon them from outside forces. Over time,... See more

An experiment seven years in the making has uncovered new insights into the nature of consciousness and challenges two prominent, competing scientific theories: Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT).

1. IIT suggests that consciousness emerges when information inside a system (like the brain) is highly connected

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