AI Safety Events and Training: 2024 Week 42 update

This is a weekly newsletter listing newly announced AI safety events and training programs. Visit AISafety.com/events-and-training for the full list of upcoming events and programs.

New events and training programs

• Reflections on AI safety and governance research October 23 (online & Manila, Philippines).
  Curious about what it’s like to do AI safety and governance research? Ayrton “AJ” San Joaquin, a Filipino research analyst at AI Standards Lab, will share his journey into AI safety technical and governance research. He’ll also take questions from the audience.

• AISafety.com Reading Group – Session 304 October 24 (online).
  This reading group meets fortnightly to discuss an AI safety-related paper. This time Buck Shlegeris will join for a discussion on his work "How to prevent collusion when using untrusted models to monitor each other".

• AISF Community Debate Night October 26 (online).
  Community-driven event open to all current, past, and potential future AI Safety Fundamentals Course participants. There will be a ​debate workshop and a show debate before participants join a debate themselves and receive feedback from experienced judges.

• AI Policy Hackathon at Johns Hopkins University October 26–28 (online & Washington D.C., USA).
  A weekend of collaboration, problem-solving, and networking as you work with like-minded peers to tackle real-world policy challenges related to AI. Participants will submit either a policy paper or a technological product. This opportunity is a great way to build your professional network and explore new career paths.

• Bayesian oracles and safety bounds – Yoshua Bengio November 14 (online).
  Yoshua Bengio will be speaking at this seminar, discussing topics related to Guaranteed Safe AI.

• The Curve November 22–24 (Berkeley, USA).
  A 2.5-day gathering of 150 people who are working to shape the trajectory of transformative AI. During the conference, they will discuss, debate, learn, and collaborate to make progress on the key questions that carve into the space.

• Global Challenges Project December Workshop – Oxford December 6–9 (Oxford, UK).
  Three-day residential workshop for university students who are interested in exploring the foundational arguments around risks from advanced AI and biotechnology. Aimed at students who want to have a large social impact with their careers. Free to attend, with room and board provided.

• Thinking Competition December 2024 – May 2025 (India).
  A pan-India 'Thinking Competition' for Indian professionals and students on comprehending the toughest challenges that human civilisation is facing today. Judges and mentors include experts from Global Priorities Institute, Centre for Study of Existential Risk, Safe AI Forum, and Institute for AI Policy and Strategy. The winning candidates will receive cash prizes and will be invited to directly collaborate with an international expert for a 6-month paid fellowship.

• AI Institute Fellowship Program 2025 (New York, USA).
  Schmidt Sciences invites recent PhD graduates in AI and computer science to apply for a 12-18 month fellowship. Reporting to the Executive Director of the AI Institute at Schmidt Sciences, fellows would split their time between supporting the AI Institute (e.g., by exploring new grantmaking programs) and pursuing specific research projects aligned with the Institute’s priorities.

• The Future of Third-Party AI Evaluation October 28 (online).
  This workshop on the future of third-party AI evaluation will discuss 1) third-party evaluations, red teaming, and disclosure in the real world, 2) how to design technical infrastructure for identifying and reporting flaws in AI systems, and 3) the legal and policy infrastructure for advancing a healthy AI evaluation ecosystem.

Featured resource

AISafety.com Donation Guide – advice on how to donate most effectively to the AI safety field given the time and funding you have.