This virtual and interactive course will engage with the most pressing global challenges of our ageāclimate change, the risks of AI, and the complex ethical questions arising in the wake of new technologies. The aim is to sharpen participantsā awareness and equip them to apply their skills to these significant and urgent issues.
We will explore how AI, along with other emerging technologies and sciences, will shape our future. As a participant, you’ll craft detailed and sophisticated visions of the world in 2045, with a special focus on integrating AI into our worldbuilds.Ā
This includes looking into the economic frameworks, institutions, and societal values that will support them. You’ll also gain proficiency in critical and strategic thinking methodologies, such as red teaming and forecasting.Ā
Dates and time: Starting February 14, 2024, 6 pm UTCĀ
Sessions: 8 weekly sessions
Location: Remote, across Zoom
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Our mentors for this course include:Ā
Please seeĀ our websiteĀ for a full curriculum, more information and resources to read, and to apply.Ā
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We are very proud to announce our 2024 Foresight Fellows! This year, we are supporting 43 Fellows acrossĀ our six technical tracks.
If you are interested in applying for next yearās cohort, please visitĀ our website.
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Applications are open for our upcoming technical workshops across 2024. Each event is a unique opportunity to delve into groundbreaking topics, collaborate with leading minds, and contribute to shaping the future in critical areas of technology and science.
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AGI: Cryptography, Security & Multipolar Scenarios Workshop
(May 14-15, The Institute, San Francisco)Ā
Neurotech, BCI and WBE for Safe AI WorkshopĀ (May 21-22, Lighthaven Berkeley)Ā
Longevity Frontiers WorkshopĀ (JulyĀ 28Ā – 29, Stanford)
Space Frontiers WorkshopĀ (September 20-21, Chabot Space Center, Bay Area)
Molecular Manufacturing Architectures WorkshopĀ (dates and location tbd.)
As we embark on an ambitious year filled with transformative workshops, we invite you to join us as a sponsor. Your support plays a pivotal role in bringing together bright minds and fostering groundbreaking ideas across our six technical focus areas āĀ longevity biotech,Ā nanotech,Ā neurotech,Ā intelligent cooperation,Ā space, andĀ Existential Hope.
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Why Sponsor:
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Personal Longevity Group:
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Beyond supporting our community, your donation mayĀ come with various perks. One such perk is the invitation to ourĀ Personal Longevity Group. This is an exclusive community of individuals who are passionate about exploring cutting-edge treatments and practices that can slow, and eventually reverse, personal aging. Meeting monthly, the group offers rich opportunities for discussions and insights from industry experts.Ā To explore the different ways you can support, please review our donation tiers.
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Contact for Sponsorship:
For more details and to discuss workshop sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected].
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We are expanding our team and currently have four open positions, starting as soon as possible.Ā
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Applications are also open for:Ā
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These roles offer unique opportunities to contribute to our mission and work alongside a dedicated and dynamic team.
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More informationĀ on each position and toĀ submit your application.Ā
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We are excited to welcome new members to our team and to continue our journey of innovation and progress. Join us in making 2024 anĀ impactful year!
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In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, we’re joined byĀ Gus DockerĀ from the Future of Life Institute. Topics discussedĀ include a deep dive into ethical frameworks, mitigating existential risks ofĀ AI, potential positive turning points in our future, andĀ difficulties we may encounter along the way.Ā
On difficulties, he discusses our lack of ability to imagineĀ wider technological change, especially in future utopias, likening the disparity between our current lives and those in the (not-so-distant) far future to the gap between life in the Stone Age and life today.
However, Gus remains excited about the future, especially about technologies that will allow people to sample experiences from others and to try different conscious states and see what they’re like, creating a world more open to diverse experiences. Finally, on thinking of a “eucatastrophe”, Gus envisions a major positive shift in mental health, where individuals easily manage and enhance their mental well-being, harmonizing happiness and productivity, thus contributing to societal welfare.
Listen here:Ā https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts
Beatrice Erkers, our COO and director of the Existential Hope program, discussedĀ Navigating Our Future with Existential Hope,Ā and Lou de Kerhuelvez dived deep into AI with her talk āĀ AI Alignment: Challenges & Hope,Ā at theĀ TransVision 2024.Ā
Congratulations toĀ Lin Du, who collaborated to publish theĀ recent paper,Ā An implantable, wireless, battery-free system for tactile pressure sensing, which has beenĀ published inĀ Microsystems & Nanoengineering.Ā
Scott Emmons, alongsideĀ Edmund Mills,Ā Shiye Su, andĀ Stuart Russell, released an arXiv preprint,Ā ALMANACS: A Simulatability Benchmark for Language Model Explainability.Ā
While many explainability methods have been developed, they are typically evaluated on bespoke tasks, preventing an apples-to-apples comparison. To help fill this gap, theyĀ present ALMANACS, a language model explainability benchmark. ALMANACS scores explainability methods on simulatability, i.e., how well the explanations improve behavior prediction on new inputs. TheyĀ conclude that despite modest successes in prior work, developing an explanation method that aids simulatability in ALMANACS remains an open challenge.
Congratulations toĀ Sam JardineĀ who has participated in the UK Government’s closed-door conference onĀ Future Space ThreatsĀ at Wiston House.
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Attending in their capacity as an Open Lunar Foundation Affiliate and 2023 Research Fellow, theyĀ hadĀ theĀ chance to help inform future UK and partners policy surrounding particularly competition and cooperation in space.Ā
levtina EvgrafovaĀ been working on building a matching and collaborative platform calledĀ RESEARCHPRENEURS. This platform is designed to facilitate collaboration between applied researchers and businesses, fostering a space where they can co-create innovations together.
Adrian Matysek hasĀ decided to join Prof. David Sabatini’s lab. Prof. Sabatini is renowned for his discovery of mTOR signaling and currently shares his lab between Prague and Boston, having previously been associated with MIT.
Ā His current work with Prof. Sabatini is focused on developing new aging models and understanding the mechanisms underlying cell senescence, aiming to target these processes with innovative therapeutics.
Stephen Fielden | Controlled Fusion of Polymer Nanoparticles
Stephen Fielden is a researcher in functional nanotechnology and has published several research papers in this area during his PhD and postdoctoral studies.
Calen Ryan | CALERIE Trials:Ā Long-term Caloric Restriction on DNA methylation of Biological Aging
Dr. Ryan is an Associate Research Scientist in the Columbia Aging Center Geroscience Core at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
Shady El Damaty | Zero Knowledge Games in Cybernetic Epistemology
Edwin Kite | How can we warm Mars?
Edwin Kite isĀ an associate professor of planetary science at the University of ChicagoĀ and a Participating Scientist on the Mars Curiosity rover.Ā
The PIBBSS Fellowship:Ā What can we learn from biological and social systems about designing safe and beneficial AI systems?
The PIBBSS FellowshipĀ is a 3-month, fully funded program where fellows work on a project at the intersection of their own field and AI safety, under the mentorship of experienced AI alignment researchers. The program is centrally aimed at Ph.D. or Postdoctoral researchers from fields studying complex and intelligent behavior in natural and social systems, such as evolutionary biology, neuroscience, dynamical systems theory, economic/political/legal theory, and more.
Learn more and apply here:Ā https://www.pibbss.ai/fellowship
Application deadline: 4th February, 2024.Ā
Contact:Ā [email protected]
Biomarkers of Aging Consortium: Challenge and Open-source ToolsetĀ
TheyĀ are hosting a 2024-2025 Challenge series, where participants will be asked to predict chronological age, mortality, and multi-morbidity, with total awards of $200k+.Ā Join the Challenge!
TheirĀ BiolearnĀ platformĀ enables easy and versatile analyses of biomarkers of aging data. It provides tools to easily load data from publicly available sources like theĀ Gene Expression Omnibus,Ā National Health and Nutrition Examimation Survey, and theĀ Framingham Heart Study.
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1517 are launching the Flux Capacitor
TheyĀ fund researchers with up to $100k toĀ to work on revolutionary science outside of academia – without the 20-page grant proposals, prying committee meetings, or the pressure to publish.
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