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Dmitri Mitya Chklovskii (Simons Foundation)
Chklovskii discusses 'The Smart Neuron: A Biologically-Inspired Foundational Building Block of Neural Networks', a normative neuroscience approach to simulate large-scale whole-brain connectomes and understand neuronal function. He argues that current models of biological neurons are either too simplistic or overly detailed for WBE.
Chklovskii's group, Normative in Neuroscience, aims to generate a computational primitive that can be placed into the nodes of the connectome, enabling whole-brain simulation. He explains this approach as deriving a solution to an optimization problem as an algorithm that meets the constraints of biological hardware. The team then maps this algorithm onto a biological neuron, capturing essential physiological properties, such as membrane potential voltage dynamics and synaptic plasticity.
Watch more here:
foresight.org/summary/mitya-chklovskii-the-smart-neuron-wbe-workshop-2024/ ... See MoreSee Less
Evan Miyazono (Atlas Computing) presented on 'Formally Scalable AI Oversight Through Specifications' as part of our Intelligent Cooperation program.
In this talk, Miyazono discusses how Atlas Computing is using this architecture to develop narrow AI systems with quantitative safety guarantees. Before starting Atlas Computing, Evan Miyazono created and led a metascience team within Protocol Labs, as well as venture studio focused on building better tools for human coordination. He holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Caltech and a BS and MS from Stanford.
Watch the full recording here:
foresight.org/summary/evan-miyazono-formally-scalable-ai-oversight-through-specifications/ ... See MoreSee Less
Hendrik Dietz's talk, 'The Path to Bionanotech Progress', at Vision Weekend Europe, highlighted advancements and challenges in the fields. He began by discussing ATP synthase, a molecular machine essential for cell ATP production, illustrating its complex and efficient design as inspiration for bionanotech. Dietz then covered his research in DNA nanotechnology, showcasing successful creations such as nanoscale electric motors. He also emphasized breakthroughs in protein design driven by tools like AlphaFold, which predict protein structures from sequences. He noted the significant commercial investments in the field from companies like Cryro Therapeutics and Alto Labs. Addressing challenges, Dietz stressed the need for improved experimental validation and better integration of academic and market-driven approaches. He acknowledged limitations in silico verification due to data constraints and the complexity of understanding AI models, advocating for enhanced experimental methods and increased funding to advance the field.
Watch the recording here:
foresight.org/summary/hendrik-dietz-the-path-to-bionanotech-progress-vision-weekend-europe-2024/
Attend Vision Weekend USA, Dec 6-8, in the Bay Area: foresight.org/vw2024us/ ... See MoreSee Less
Applications are open for Catalyze’s new incubation program for technical AI safety organizations. This program will bring together founders, advisors, and funders to advance the AI safety field.
Both non-profit and for-profit companies are eligible. Deadline to apply: September 3rd.
Apply now:
www.catalyze-impact.org/apply ... See MoreSee Less
Nikolina Lauc’s talk, 'The Path to Reliable Aging Clocks', at Vision Weekend Europe, explored the development and utility of biological age measurements. She discussed the limitations of early aging metrics, like telomere length, which reflects single-cell aging, and highlighted more comprehensive tools like the Horvath and Glycan Age clocks. These clocks provide insights into systemic aging and predict mortality and disease risk, though they often don't correlate with each other and vary in effectiveness across individuals. Lauc stressed that while aging clocks can indicate disease risks and respond to interventions, a single comprehensive biological age measure is insufficient. Personalized approaches and understanding individual differences in aging are essential for effective health management and disease prevention.
Watch the recording here: foresight.org/summary/nikolina-lauc-the-path-to-reliable-aging-clocks-vision-weekend-europe-2024/.
Make sure you attend Vision Weekend USA by securing your tickets here:
foresight.org/vw2024us/ ... See MoreSee Less
Maria Avramidou (University of Oxford) outlined 'Alignment and Value Drift in Whole Brain Emulation', at the Foresight Neurotech, BCI, and WBE for Safe AI Workshop.
Avramidou argues that successful brain emulations should have the same values as biological humans, eliminating the need to specify initial values. Using evolutionary theory, she introduces the concepts of natural selection and replicators to understand how values and structures change over time, leading to questions about which entities are subject to natural selection, who benefits long-term, and who adapts. Avramidou suggests that an entity's fitness determines long-term benefits from selection and that behavior adaptation and value drift depend on the environment, which can be shaped for positive outcomes. She urges consideration of incentives emulations might employ, such as self-copying, self-sacrifice, and cooperation with humans, and how these can benefit humans as secondary beneficiaries.
Recording here:
foresight.org/summary/maria-avramidou-value-drift-in-wbe-whole-brain-emulation-workshop-2024/ ... See MoreSee Less
Jeremy Barton presented on 'Foundational Nanomechanical Systems' at Vision Weekend Europe. His talk highlighted his new venture in molecular nanotechnology, focusing on developing foundational nanomechanical systems through open-source research and interdisciplinary collaboration. Barton shared his vision for overcoming the challenges of secretive corporate study and advancing the field through broad public involvement.
Watch the full recording here:
foresight.org/summary/jeremy-barton-foundational-nanomechanical-systems-vision-weekend-europe-2024/
Continuing this conversation, Jeremy Barton will chair our upcoming Nanomachines Workshop. Dates: October 4-6, 2024
Apply to Attend:
foresight.org/2024-foresight-molecular-manufacturing-architectures-workshop/ ... See MoreSee Less
Catalin Mitelut (NYU) presented at our Neurotech, BCI, and WBE for Safe AI Workshop on 'Scale-dependent WBE: An Experimental Driven Research Program.'
Mitelut focuses on functional neural data recording and its applications in WBE. He aims to record rodent electrophysiology and behavior to build a neural emulator using language models, generating predictions of both behavior and neural states. Mitelut considers whether modeling neural dynamics alone could achieve WBE, bypassing extensive mechanistic neuroscience research. Particularly intrigued by the complexity of spontaneous neural dynamics and their role in the neuroscience of agency, he plans to conduct extensive electrophysiology recordings of rodents in open-field environments. By capturing these intricate dynamics, Mitelut hopes to deepen our understanding of WBE and replicate the success of language models.
Watch the full recording here:
foresight.org/summary/catalin-mitelut-scale-dependent-wbe-an-experimental-driven-research-program... ... See MoreSee Less
The Survival and Flourishing Fund have launched a call for prototyping and R&D of Flexible Hardware Enabled Governance (FlexHEGs).
This is a fantastic chance for innovators working at the intersection of technology and governance to push the boundaries of what's possible.
Deadline: September 15th, EOD
survivalandflourishing.fund/sff-2024-flexhegs-application ... See MoreSee Less
Register to learn from Angela Thornton
(Certified Member of the Market Research Society) as she presents 'Our Futures in Mind Uploading: Public Perceptions and Narratives' on Thursday, September 5.
Apply to Attend:
lu.ma/pwwdlspa ... See MoreSee Less
Juan Benet (Protocol Labs) spoke at our Neurotech, BCI, and WBE for Safe AI Workshop on 'Required Innovations in Neurotech for Safe AI'.
Benet emphasizes the significance of grasping computer complexity and the promise of spiking neural network models in driving AI breakthroughs. He forecasts that transformative BCIs will emerge within the next three decades, with median AI models already rivaling human performance in randomly selected tasks.
Stressing the obstacles in constructing experimental frameworks for brain imaging, modeling, and simulation, he highlights the necessity for a field-wide R&D approach that enables rapid data sharing and iterative testing at scale. Drawing parallels to successful accelerated R&D programs such as the Apollo missions and Manhattan Project, Benet anticipates the coming 10-20 years to be a captivating period for AI advancements.
Watch the full recording here:
foresight.org/summary/juan-benet-accelerating-whole-brain-emulations/ ... See MoreSee Less
We’re hosting Vision Weekend Puerto Rico in picturesque Old San Juan next year! Come for an immersive experience, which includes conferences, unconferences, mentorship hours, curated one-on-one sessions, demos, satellite events, and more.
Secure your spot now with an early bird ticket:
foresight.org/vw2025pr/ ... See MoreSee Less
Allison Duettmann, CEO of the Foresight Institute, recently opened our workshop on brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and whole-brain emulation (WBE) to advance safe AI development. The event brought together around 60 researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and activists to explore the potential of these technologies. Attendees evaluated their impact, risks, benefits, timelines, costs, and discussed new R&D mechanisms to advance these projects.
Watch the recording here:
foresight.org/summary/allison-duettmann-on-foresights-neurotech-bci-and-wbe-for-safe-ai-workshop-...
Please submit to our AI Safety Grant's neurotech category with your projects.
foresight.org/ai-safety/ ... See MoreSee Less
We are excited to announce the speakers of our upcoming Functional Nanomachine Design Workshops. The workshop will take place on October 5 – 6, 2024 in San Francisco.
Our workshop chair, Jeremy Barton, is a leading expert in foundational nanomechanical systems.
Brenda Rubenstein is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics (Brown University).
Christian Wagner is an ERC Group Leader (Forschungeszentrum Jülich).
Siyuan (Stella) Wang is a Foresight Fellow and Postdoctoral Fellow (Wyss Institute at Harvard University).
Don’t miss the chance to gain insights from these individuals and delve into the latest advancements in nanomachine design and nanomechanical systems.
Please apply to attend here:
foresight.org/2024-foresight-molecular-manufacturing-architectures-workshop/ ... See MoreSee Less
The AGI: Cryptography, Security, and Multipolar Scenarios Workshop Report is now available.
This report offers a detailed overview of the workshop’s discussions on AI threat models, cryptographic tools, and safety strategies. Held at The Institute, Salesforce Tower, San Francisco, the event brought together sixty experts to address key issues at the intersection of AI, cryptography, and security.
Access the report here:
foresight.org/technologies/computation-intelligent-cooperation/intelligent-workshops-reports/ ... See MoreSee Less