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Into AI Safety

Into AI Safety

By: Jacob Haimes
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 The Into AI Safety podcast aims to make it easier for everyone, regardless of background, to get meaningfully involved with the conversations surrounding the rules and regulations which should govern the research, development, deployment, and use of the technologies encompassed by the term "artificial intelligence" or "AI" For better formatted show notes, additional resources, and more, go to https://kairos.fm/intoaisafety/© Kairos.fm Mathematics Science
Episodes
  • Growing BlueDot's Impact w/ Li-Lian Ang

    Growing BlueDot's Impact w/ Li-Lian Ang
    Sep 15 2025
    I'm joined by my good friend, Li-Lian Ang, first hire and product manager at BlueDot Impact. We discuss how BlueDot has evolved from their original course offerings to a new "defense-in-depth" approach, which focuses on three core threat models: reduced oversight in high risk scenarios (e.g. accelerated warfare), catastrophic terrorism (e.g. rogue actors with bioweapons), and the concentration of wealth and power (e.g. supercharged surveillance states). On top of that, we cover how BlueDot's strategies account for and reduce the negative impacts of common issues in AI safety, including exclusionary tendencies, elitism, and echo chambers.2025.09.15: Learn more about how to make design effective interventions to make AI go well and potentially even get funded for it on BlueDot Impact's AGI Strategy course! BlueDot is also hiring, so if you think you’d be a good fit, I definitely recommend applying; I had a great experience when I contracted as a course facilitator. If you do end up applying, let them know you found out about the opportunity from the podcast!Follow Li-Lian on LinkedIn, and look at more of her work on her blog!As part of my effort to make this whole podcasting thing more sustainable, I have created a Kairos.fm Patreon which includes an extended version of this episode. Supporting gets you access to these extended cuts, as well as other perks in development.(03:23) - Meeting Through the Course (05:46) - Eating Your Own Dog Food (13:13) - Impact Acceleration (22:13) - Breaking Out of the AI Safety Mold (26:06) - Bluedot’s Risk Framework (41:38) - Dangers of "Frontier" Models (54:06) - The Need for AI Safety Advocates (01:00:11) - Hot Takes and Pet PeevesLinksBlueDot Impact websiteDefense-in-DepthBlueDot Impact blogpost - Our vision for comprehensive AI safety trainingEngineering for Humans blogpost - The Swiss cheese model: Designing to reduce catastrophic lossesOpen Journal of Safety Science and Technology article - The Evolution of Defense in Depth Approach: A Cross Sectorial AnalysisX-clusion and X-riskNature article - AI Safety for EveryoneBen Kuhn blogpost - On being welcomingReflective Altruism blogpost - Belonging (Part 1: That Bostrom email)AIxBioRAND report - The Operational Risks of AI in Large-Scale Biological AttacksOpenAI "publication" (press release) - Building an early warning system for LLM-aided biological threat creationAnthropic Frontier AI Red Team blogpost - Why do we take LLMs seriously as a potential source of biorisk?Kevin Esvelt preprint - Foundation models may exhibit staged progression in novel CBRN threat disclosureAnthropic press release - Activating AI Safety Level 3 protectionsPersuasive AIPreprint - Lies, Damned Lies, and Distributional Language Statistics: Persuasion and Deception with Large Language ModelsNature Human Behavior article - On the conversational persuasiveness of GPT-4Preprint - Large Language Models Are More Persuasive Than Incentivized Human PersuadersAI, Anthropomorphization, and Mental HealthWestern News article - Expert insight: Humanlike chatbots detract from developing AI for the human goodAI & Society article - Anthropomorphization and beyond: conceptualizing humanwashing of AI-enabled machinesArtificial Ignorance article - The Chatbot TrapMaking Noise and Hearing Things blogpost - Large language models cannot replace mental health professionalsIdealogo blogpost - 4 reasons not to turn ChatGPT into your therapistJournal of Medical Society Editorial - Importance of informed consent in medical practiceIndian Journal of Medical Research article - Consent in psychiatry - concept, application & implicationsMedia Naama article - The Risk of Humanising AI Chabots: Why ChatGPT Mimicking Feelings Can BackfireBecker's Behavioral Health blogpost - OpenAI’s mental health roadmap: 5 things to knowMiscellaneous ReferencesCarnegie Council blogpost - What Do We Mean When We Talk About "AI Democratization"?Collective Intelligence Project policy brief - Four Approaches to Democratizing AIBlueDot Impact blogpost - How Does AI Learn? A Beginner's Guide with ExamplesBlueDot Impact blogpost - AI safety needs more public-facing advocacyMore Li-Lian LinksHumans of Minerva podcast websiteLi-Lian's book - Purple is the Noblest ShroudRelevant Podcasts from Kairos.fmScaling Democracy w/ Dr. Igor Krawczuk for AI safety exclusion and echo chambersGetting into PauseAI w/ Will Petillo for AI in warfare and exclusion in AI safety
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Layoffs to Leadership w/ Andres Sepulveda Morales

    Layoffs to Leadership w/ Andres Sepulveda Morales
    Aug 4 2025
    Andres Sepulveda Morales joins me to discuss his journey from three tech layoffs to founding Red Mage Creative and leading the Fort Collins chapter of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG). We explore the current tech job market, AI anxiety in nonprofits, dark patterns in AI systems, and building inclusive tech communities that welcome diverse perspectives.Reach out to Andres on his LinkedIn, or check out the Red Mage Creative website!For any listeners in Colorado, consider attending an RMAIIG event: Boulder; Fort Collins(00:00) - Intro (01:04) - Andres' Journey (05:15) - Tech Layoff Cycle (26:12) - Why AI? (30:58) - What is Red Mage? (36:12) - AI as a Tool (41:55) - AInxiety (47:26) - Dark Patterns and Critical Perspectives (01:01:35) - RMAIIG (01:10:09) - Inclusive Tech Education (01:18:05) - Colorado AI Governance (01:23:46) - Building Your Own Tech CommunityLinksTech Job MarketLayoff tracker websiteThe Big Newsletter article - Why Are We Pretending AI Is Going to Take All the Jobs?METR preprint - Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer ProductivityAI Business blogpost - https://aibusiness.com/responsible-ai/debunking-the-ai-job-crisisCrunchbase article - Data: Tech Layoffs Remain Stubbornly High, With Big Tech Leading The WayComputerworld article - Tech layoffs surge even as US unemployment remains stableApollo Technical blogpost - Ghost jobs in tech: Why companies are posting roles they don’t plan to fillThe HR Digest article - The Rise of Ghost Jobs Is Leaving Job Seekers Frustrated and DisappointedA Life After Layoff video - The Tech Job Market Is Hot Trash Right NowEconomy Media video - Will The Tech Job Market Ever Recover?Soleyman Shahir video - Tech CEO Explains: The Real Reason Behind AI LayoffsDark PatternsDeceptive Design websiteJournal of Legal Analysis article - Shining a Light on Dark PatternsICLR paper - DarkBench: Benchmarking Dark Patterns in Large Language ModelsComputing Within Limits paper - Imposing AI: Deceptive design patterns against sustainabilityCommunications of the ACM blogpost - Dark Patterns[Preprint] - A Comprehensive Study on Dark PatternsColorado AI RegulationSenate Bill 24-205 (Colorado AI Act) bill and webpageNAAG article - A Deep Dive into Colorado’s Artificial Intelligence ActColorado Sun article - Why Colorado’s artificial intelligence law is a big deal for the whole countryCFO Dive blogpost - ‘Heavy lift’: Colorado AI law sets high bar, analysts sayDenver 7 article - Colorado could lose federal funding as Trump administration targets AI regulationsAmerica's AI Action Plan documentOther SourcesConcordia Framework report and repo80,000 Hours websiteAI Incident Database website
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    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Getting Into PauseAI w/ Will Petillo

    Getting Into PauseAI w/ Will Petillo
    Jun 23 2025
    Will Petillo, onboarding team lead at PauseAI, joins me to discuss the grassroots movement advocating for a pause on frontier AI model development. We explore PauseAI's strategy, talk about common misconceptions Will hears, and dig into how diverse perspectives still converge on the need to slow down AI development.Will's LinksPersonal blog on AIHis mindmap of the AI x-risk debateGame demosAI focused YouTube channel(00:00) - Intro (03:36) - What is PauseAI (10:10) - Will Petillo's journey into AI safety advocacy (21:13) - Understanding PauseAI (31:35) - Pursuing a pause (40:06) - Balancing advocacy in a complex world (45:54) - Why a pause on frontier models? (54:48) - Diverse perspectives within PauseAI (59:55) - PauseAI misconceptions (01:16:40) - Ongoing AI governance efforts (SB1047) (01:28:52) - The role of incremental progress (01:35:16) - Safety-washing and corporate responsibility (01:37:23) - Lessons from environmentalism (01:41:59) - Will's superlativesLinksPauseAIPauseAI-USRelated Kairos.fm EpisodesInto AI Safety episode with Dr. Igor KrawczukmuckrAIkers episode on SB1047Exclusionary TendenciesJacobin article - Elite Universities Gave Us Effective Altruism, the Dumbest Idea of the CenturySSIR article - The Elitist Philanthropy of So-Called Effective AltruismPersuasion blogpost - The Problem with Effective AltruismDark Markets blogpost - What's So Bad About Rationalism?FEE blogpost - What’s Wrong With the Rationality Community?AI in WarfareMaster's Thesis - The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and Expert Computer Systems in the ArmyInternational Journal of Intelligent Systems article - Artificial Intelligence in the Military: An Overview of the Capabilities, Applications, and ChallengesPreprint - Basic Research, Lethal Effects: Military AI Research Funding as EnlistmentAOAV Article - ‘Military Age Males’ in US Drone StrikesThe Conversation article - Gaza war: Israel using AI to identify human targets raising fears that innocents are being caught in the net972 article - ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in GazaIDF press release - The IDF's Use of Data Technologies in Intelligence ProcessingLieber Institute West Point article - Israel–Hamas 2024 SymposiumVerfassungsblog article - Gaza, Artificial Intelligence, and Kill ListsRAND research report - Dr. Li Bicheng, or How China Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Media ManipulationThe Intercept article collection - The Drone PapersAFIT faculty publication - On Large Language Models in National Security ApplicationsNature article - Death by Metadata: The Bioinformationalisation of Life and the Transliteration of Algorithms to FleshLegislationLegiScan page on SB1047NY State Senate page on the RAISE ActCongress page on the TAKE IT DOWN ActThe GavernorFastCompany article - Big Tech may be focusing its lobbying push on the California AI safety bill’s last stop: Gavin NewsomPOLITICO article - How California politics killed a nationally important AI billNewsom's veto messageAdditional relevant lobbying documentation - [1], [2]Jacobin article - With Newsom’s Veto, Big Tech Beats DemocracyMisc. LinksFLI Open Letter on an AI pauseWikipedia article - Overton windowDaniel Smachtenburger YouTube video - An Introduction to the MetacrisisVAISU website (looks broken as of 2025.06.19)AI Impacts report - Why Did Environmentalism Become Partisan?
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    1 hr and 48 mins
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