Since the issue of AI x-risk has gained in prominence, I’ve been getting many more incoming requests for talks and interviews. I cannot accept them all, and I cannot provide a full justification for the ones I turn down. The purpose of this page is to be transparent about that fact (so please don’t have high hopes!), as well as to explain my relevant policies and reduce the communications overhead.
Even though I sometimes join events if they’re fun or low effort (e.g., because they happen virtually or I’m in town for other reasons), my main motivation for accepting an invitation is if it helps me to advance my priorities for making the world a safer place.
Here are some policies and general notes about how I try to reduce the overheads of attending events:
Unfortunately, I can’t promise to confirm my participation more than 2 weeks in advance. I’m aware that this is not ideal from the perspective of event organisers, but given the uncertainty and speed at which AI is now unfolding (and, again, the number of invites I’m getting), I usually will simply not know my travel schedule much farther ahead;
That said, my team is happy to provide you a probability estimate of me being able to attend, should you find that useful;
In case you’d like me to present: I rarely have time to prepare a dedicated slideshow or script with reference to the latest news, so the format should either be an interview (“fireside chat”) or, alternatively, a panel; see EAG SF (2018) or Tallinn Digital Summit (2022) for example;
I will not participate in preparatory calls personally (as they’re not worth the time cost and scheduling hassle from my perspective) — however, someone from my team may be able to do that if that helps;
My team will handle (and pay for) my logistics, such as travel and accommodation;
The form below will also be handled by my team — expect to hear from them shortly after submitting it.
Thank you very much for accommodating the above — I know this all sounds a bit harsh, but I need to guard my time and attention and ensure I don’t miss important opportunities. Please also make sure the relevant stakeholders on your team know about my policies. Finally, I should mention that I can always make exceptions if that’s in the interest of advancing the above priorities.
These questions are to help me understand who the key speakers at the event will be (excluding myself, if I would be a key speaker), and what is their background. They can be listed in any order, below. This will give me a sense of what the conversations at your event will be like.