Doing a PhD is a strong option to get great at developing and evaluating research ideas. These skills are necessary to become an AI safety research lead, one of the key talent bottlenecks in AI safety, and are helpful in a variety of other roles. By contrast, my impression is that currently many individuals with the goal of being a research lead pursue options like independent research or engineering-focused positions instead of doing a PhD. This post details the reasons I believe these alternatives are usually much worse at training people to be research leads.

I think many early-career researchers in AI safety are undervaluing PhDs. Anecdotally, I think it's noteworthy that people in the AI safety community were often surprised to find out I was doing a PhD, and positively [...]

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Outline:

(02:56) Why be a research lead?

(06:10) Why do a PhD?

(06:13) People

(07:58) Environment

(09:28) Alternatives to PhDs

(09:32) Doing independent research

(11:04) Working as a research contributor

(13:47) Things to be wary of when doing a PhD

(14:29) Your work might have nothing to do with safety

(15:32) Your mental health might suffer

(16:20) So what should you do?

(17:58) Advice for making the most of a PhD

(20:54) Conclusion

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First published:

Source:

Linkpost URL:
https://gleave.me/post/why-do-phd/

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.