Routes Where should someone new to AI safety start?
Where should someone new to AI safety start?
No background needed. The same road is on legibleai.org.
kosplora-route/0.2 · by Bentley Moon
What would change this route
If the case for alarm and the case against it stopped disagreeing about a checkable fact, station 4 would become a reading of that evidence instead of a second essay.
The whole route, before you start
- 1 · orient · 1hTake the illustrated tour of where AI came from, the problems and the proposed solutions.
- 2 · source · 30mAsk the question you wrote down, read the answer, and open at least one of the sources it points to.
- 3 · source · 45mRead the strongest case for alarm, in the words of the people who make it.
- 4 · counterpoint · 1hRead a strong case against it and write down where the two disagree: about facts, about timing, or about what follows.
- 5 · person · 1h30mJoin a free course with a facilitator and a group, and bring your note on where the two cases disagree to the first session.
- 6 · make · 30mWrite one page: what you now think, the strongest point against it, and one thing you will do next, from the career guide, the directory or neither.
Optional study preferences. These stay in this browser and do not change the route’s steps.
Station 1 · orient · 1h
Take the illustrated tour of where AI came from, the problems and the proposed solutions. Write down the one problem you would most like explained.
See the whole field in pictures. AI Safety for Fleshy Humans, by Nicky Case: an illustrated tour in three parts, on where AI came from and might go, the problems, and the proposed solutions. · Nicky Case · undated
Station 2 · source · 30m
Ask the question you wrote down, read the answer, and open at least one of the sources it points to.
Ask the questions you have. AISafety.info answers common questions about AI risk in plain language, and Stampy, its chatbot, points to its sources. · AISafety.info · undated
Station 3 · source · 45m
Read the strongest case for alarm, in the words of the people who make it. Note its main step.
Read the strongest case for alarm. The Machine Intelligence Research Institute’s “The Problem” sets out why its researchers expect superhuman AI built with today’s methods to end in human extinction. The book If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, makes the same case at full length. · Machine Intelligence Research Institute · undated
Station 4 · counterpoint · 1h
Read a strong case against it and write down where the two disagree: about facts, about timing, or about what follows.
Read a strong case against it. AI as Normal Technology, by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor (Knight First Amendment Institute, 15 April 2025), argues that AI will be transformative the way electricity and the internet were, and should not be treated as a separate, potentially superintelligent species. · Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, Knight First Amendment Institute · 2025-04-15
Station 5 · person · 1h30m
Join a free course with a facilitator and a group, and bring your note on where the two cases disagree to the first session.
Take a free course with other people. Lens Academy runs free AI safety courses, taken in small groups, from beginner to advanced, part-time or intensive. Its Structured Introduction is marked as the place to start. · Lens Academy · undated
Station 6 · make · 30m
Write one page: what you now think, the strongest point against it, and one thing you will do next, from the career guide, the directory or neither.
What you leave with
A one-page note: what you now think about AI risk, the strongest point against it, and one thing you will do next.
The standard it is checked against
No published standard is named for this route yet. Its finished work is for you to keep and share.
When you are done
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