Singular Paths

Microthought: Safety isn't first, and it shouldn't be

"Safety first!" makes a great soundbite. But it's a silly way to make decisions. "Safety" isn't binary - if you really put maximizing safety before anything else you'd never leave the house! You make trade offs all the time, and you'll make better ones

AI

The difficulty of AI benchmarks

How much progress have we made in AI, and how close are we to a general human-level intelligence (AGI)? It's tempting to pick some benchmarks that surely only something intelligent could pass. Superhuman chess, go, or the ability to hold a conversation have all

Microthoughts

Microthought: "Be more careful" isn't a good solution

Humans make mistakes. Even when trying to be careful. In a good environment your long-term level of care tends to be roughly whatever is sustainable for you in that environment. If I tell you to "be more careful" it might create a temporary boost,

Microthoughts

Microthought: Zoom's insecurity as a competitive advantage

Zoom has suffered several well-known security issues, ranging from leaving a persistent server on your computer that turned out to be remotely exploitable, to weak encryption and authentication. You might call their security situation a weakness. I argue it highlights one of their strengths.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Welcome to Singular Paths! Communicating purely in writing leaves me outside my comfort zone. I much prefer the richness of a face-to-face conversation with all the nuance of intonation and