June Newsletter: AI Ethics & Governance

Post Date June 30, 2021
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Dear friends,

This month GCRI announces two new research papers. First, Moral Consideration of Nonhumans in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence led by GCRI Research Associate Andrea Owe, addresses the current state of treatment of nonhumans across the field of AI ethics. The paper finds limited existing attention and calls for more. The paper speaks to major themes in AI ethics, such as the project of aligning AI to human (or nonhuman) values. Given the profound current and potential future impacts of AI technology, how nonhumans …

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May Newsletter: 2021 Advising/Collaboration Program

Post Date May 28, 2021
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Dear friends,

GCRI has just opened a new round of our advising and collaboration program. It is an open call for anyone who would like to connect with us. We are providing advice on career opportunities, research directions, and anything else related to global catastrophic risk. We are also discussing opportunities to collaborate on specific projects, including several active GCRI projects listed online. Whether you are new to the field or an old colleague seeking to reconnect, we welcome your inquiry. For further information, please see …

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February Newsletter: Welcoming Andrea Owe

Post Date February 26, 2021
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Dear friends,

I am delighted to announce a new member of the GCRI team, Research Associate Andrea Owe. Andrea is an environmental and space ethicist based in Oslo. She first started working with GCRI a few years ago while she was a masters student at the University of Oslo’s Centre for Development and the Environment. As a full-time research associate, Andrea will lead a project for GCRI on the ethics of AI and global catastrophic risk. She brings a valuable new perspective to GCRI, and we’re …

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January Newsletter: Insurrection & AGI Survey

Post Date January 28, 2021
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Dear friends,

January 6, 2021 was a dark day in the US. The violent insurrection at the US Capitol was terrible in its own right, but, as we discuss on the GCRI blog, it also had several links to global catastrophic risk, including visions of global genocide against non-whites and systems of disinformation that also undermine the governance of climate change and of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GCRI is nonpartisan, and we welcome constructive contributions from people of all political views. We do not, however, welcome those who …

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November Newsletter: Year in Review

Post Date November 25, 2020
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Dear friends,

What a year 2020 has been. The COVID-19 pandemic is already the most severe global catastrophe in decades, and it’s far from over. It shows the importance of addressing global catastrophic risk: a global catastrophe can upend everything else we’re doing and destroy so much of what we care about.

GCRI has been relatively fortunate during the pandemic. We have always been a remote collaboration organization, so we have been able to maintain a high degree of social distancing with relatively little impact on our …

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October Newsletter: AI Governance Call For Papers

Post Date October 15, 2020
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Dear friends,

I am editing a new special issue on “Governance of Artificial Intelligence” for the journal Information. The call for papers is online here. Please see details below. Please feel free to circulate this among others who may be interested.

Information is an open access journal with an author processing charge. GCRI is able to cover the author processing charge for a limited number of submissions. Interested authors should contact me directly about this.

Sincerely,Seth Baum,Executive Director

Call For Papers: Governance of Artificial Intelligence

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/information/special_issues/Governance_AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is …

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September Newsletter: Planetary Defense & Violent Conflict

Post Date September 29, 2020
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Dear friends,

A primary reason GCRI works across the range of global catastrophic risks is to address the many important points of intersection between the risks. These points of intersection often are neglected by communities that focus on one risk at a time.

This month, we announce a paper on the intersection of planetary defense and violent conflict, especially nuclear war. Planetary defense refers to protection against asteroids, comets, and meteors. One point of intersection is the proposed use of nuclear explosives to target Earthbound asteroids …

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August Newsletter: Quantifying Probability

Post Date August 31, 2020
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Dear friends,

One of the great features of being part of a wider community of scholars and professionals working on global catastrophic risk is the chance to learn from and build on work that other groups are doing. This month, we announce a paper of mine that builds on an excellent recent paper by Simon Beard, Thomas Rowe, James Fox. The Beard et al. paper surveys the methods used to quantify the probability of existential catastrophe (which is roughly synonymous with global catastrophe).

My paper comments …

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July Newsletter: Artificial Interdisciplinarity

Post Date July 31, 2020
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Dear friends, 

A major impediment to addressing global catastrophic risk is the cognitive challenge posed by the complex, interdisciplinary nature of the risks. Identifying practical, effective solutions for reducing the risk requires a command of a wide range of subjects. That is not easy for anyone, including those of us who work on it full time. 

This month, we announce a new paper on the use of artificial intelligence to ease the cognitive burdens of interdisciplinary research and better address complex societal problems like global catastrophic risk. …

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June Newsletter: Racism and Global Catastrophic Risk

Post Date June 30, 2020
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Dear friends,

The ongoing wave of anti-racism protests are prompting long-overdue conversation and action to establish a more equitable society in the US and worldwide. We at GCRI are saddened by the tragic deaths that have sparked these protests and hopeful that something good can come out of it.

For our part, we have contributed to the conversation by publishing a statement on racism. To summarize: We see moral and practical links between the problems of racism and global catastrophic risk. They are both large-scale issues whose …

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