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Matthew Ward
Matthew Ward

1.3K Followers

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Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·3 days ago

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Instrumental Convergence

A series on AI alignment basics. — This is the fourth article in a series on the math of AI alignment. It’s meant to be introductory to give a flavor of the types of math you might encounter if you go into this field. In the previous three, I said they were independent. This one will require…

Math

10 min read

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Instrumental Convergence
The Math of AI Alignment 101: Instrumental Convergence
Math

10 min read


Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·Mar 12

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Markov Decision Processes

A Series on AI Alignment Basics — This is the third article in a series introducing the basic mathematical concepts that go into properly aligning AGI (artificial general intelligence). Each article is roughly self-contained, and so they can be read independently. But I will not be re-motivating or reintroducing concepts, so they can probably be read more…

Math

8 min read

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Markov Decision Processes
The Math of AI Alignment 101: Markov Decision Processes
Math

8 min read


Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·Mar 10

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Underspecification

A Series on AI Alignment Basics — This is the second article in a series introducing the basic mathematical concepts that go into properly aligning AGI (artificial general intelligence). Each article is roughly self-contained, and so they can be read independently. …

Mathematics

7 min read

The Math of AI Alignment 101: Underspecification
The Math of AI Alignment 101: Underspecification
Mathematics

7 min read


Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·Mar 6

The Math of AI Alignment 101: The Stop Button

A series on AI Alignment basics. — This is the first article in a series on the math behind AI alignment. Roughly speaking, AI alignment is the task of getting an artificial intelligence to do what we want it to and not some (possibly destructive) other thing. AI alignment is a very small area of active research…

Alignment

8 min read

The Math of AI Alignment 101: The Stop Button
The Math of AI Alignment 101: The Stop Button
Alignment

8 min read


Mar 4

The Paradox of Giving AI More Reasoning

Knowing the effects you’ll have can be harmful — Last time we discussed the difficulties in giving AI any sense of human values: Can We Give AI Human Values? More silly questions about AI.medium.com Many of the counterexamples there fell into the category of “failure to reason properly.” This article will discuss the paradox of trying to fix this problem. The Problem Let’s start with two examples to ground what we’re talking…

AI

6 min read

The Paradox of Giving AI More Reasoning
The Paradox of Giving AI More Reasoning
AI

6 min read


Feb 28

Can We Give AI Human Values?

More silly questions about AI. — Years ago I started responding to silly questions about AI safety, including: Can we just turn off dangerous AI? Can We Just Turn Off Dangerous AI? The most common misconception about AI safety.medium.com Hint: The answer to all these questions will always be “no.” And if you have a way to do it, please speak up. AI research is heating up. …

Artificial Intelligence

5 min read

Can We Give AI Human Values?
Can We Give AI Human Values?
Artificial Intelligence

5 min read


Nov 9, 2022

On the Algorithmic Race to the Bottom

Digital addiction and the end of deep thought. — You probably haven’t noticed, but I basically quit Medium for the past year. As a writer, I write when I have something valuable to say. My articles often involve a lot research and creativity. I try to add something unique to the conversation. I found it quite draining to keep…

Writing

10 min read

On the Algorithmic Race to the Bottom
On the Algorithmic Race to the Bottom
Writing

10 min read


Jan 25, 2022

Zen and the Art of Novel Writing

What koans can teach us about great literature. — Great literature can act like a Zen koan, but it requires changing how we think about the art of novel writing. Zen Koans Koans have been around for a long time. They date back to at least the Tang dynasty of China around 650. We won’t trace the full history of this…

Essay

7 min read

Zen and the Art of Novel Writing
Zen and the Art of Novel Writing
Essay

7 min read


Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·Jan 4, 2022

Brownian Motion and the Heat Equation

How randomness is related to heat. — There’s this really cool and strange fact about random motion (Brownian motion) that most people outside of the field don’t know. But it’s so fundamental in any technical work on the subject, that most insiders probably don’t even consider it interesting. This article is going to give a general explanation…

Mathematics

5 min read

Brownian Motion and the Heat Equation
Brownian Motion and the Heat Equation
Mathematics

5 min read


Published in Cantor’s Paradise

·Mar 24, 2021

A Few Strange Facts About Brownian Motion

Randomness can be unintuitive. — There are a lot of physical reasons we might want to study what happens when a point in space moves randomly. For instance, Robert Brown thought of this all the way back in 1827 when watching how a pollen grain moved while suspended in water. This type of random motion…

Math

8 min read

A Few Strange Facts About Brownian Motion
A Few Strange Facts About Brownian Motion
Math

8 min read

Matthew Ward

Matthew Ward

1.3K Followers

Lifelong learner and creator. More information at amindformadness.com

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