Great idea!
7
AI Governance YouTube Channel
Project summary
I am currently testing my fit for the 'communicator' aptitude in AI Governance. There are very few videos explaining the different ideas and theories of change in AI governance, and I'd like to address this gap. I plan to cover topics such as compute governance, the EU AI Act, and other legislative updates as they occur. I expect to try doing this part-time (25-30 hours of my week) for the next 1-2 months - with the expectation that I release one video every week or, if my life gets busy/I am unhappy with the scripts I write, fortnightly. Metrics here are hard to judge, but I'd likely continue keeping that up if I can get over 100-200 subscribers, or if I get over 5-10 people giving me feedback that videos are useful. I also expect to keep it up (perhaps at an irregular interval) if none of the above happen. I feel a bunch of intrinsic motivation to do this, and funding would be helpful to make doing these videos easier.
What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?
a) Develop my own intuitions: Creating these videos will require spending 10-15 hours researching each topic and distilling my thoughts into content that is easily understandable for the general public. This process should help me gain a deeper understanding of various AI governance ideas.
b) Positively shape the discourse around AI governance: While there are several podcasts addressing this at the moment, there's a lack of short, explanatory videos that clearly illustrate why certain AI governance proposals could work or what they entail. My goal is to fill this gap.
How will this funding be used?
a) Time spent: I intend to take this on part-time for the next month. Given some people have expressed that they'd rather pay for the time I spend rather than equipment, I will allocate 50/60% of the funding here to pay for my time.
b) Editing Software: I am currently using a trial of Final Cut Pro. I think having good editing software is really useful. It helps me adjust useful things like the lighting of a video or the audio. I would prioritize paying for this versus equipment. A full version of Final Cut Pro costs £300, which is steep. I would likely move over to Premiere Pro once the trial is up, which costs about £18/month.
c) Equipment: I think I have everything I need for an MVP setup. I could spend money on fancier equipment, such as a nicer camera, audio setup, etc. For example, I may spend £60 on a RODE microphone and a mic stand. From the feedback I've got, it seems that my audio is weak. I think my camera seems viable for starting out.
Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?
I have invested significant time formulating ideas in AI governance and documenting my thoughts. My recent work includes:
A final year thesis on how legislative efforts in the UK can be modelled after responsible scaling policies (Currently private but happy to share please reach out to - gauraventh (at) gmail dot com)
An analysis of Taiwanese and Chinese semiconductor industries
You can view my initial two videos here (1)(2). Whether or not you choose to fund this project, I would appreciate your feedback on these efforts. Here is a feedback form.
What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?
I acknowledge there is a potential risk that I may inadvertently communicate ideas in a way that could negatively impact perceptions of AI governance efforts. While I am hoping to avoiding this outcome, I recognise that there is a non-zero chance of such an occurrence.
donated $100
donated $441
Manuel Allgaier
over 1 year ago
Do you know any Youtubers (or other content creators) in your area? Could you record in their studio, possibly getting advice from them too? There's a growing network of EA YouTubers, and of course many more Youtubers who might also care to support you as well. Good luck!
Gaurav Yadav
over 1 year ago
@manuelallgaier Hi Manuel, I don't know any other creators. I could have a look thank you for the suggestion!
donated $40
Michaël Rubens Trazzi
over 1 year ago
I have watched some of the first two initial videos and I think this is really promising.
Responsible Scaling Policies and SB-1047 are two things that I think would be great to have an easy-to-digest video format and I am glad Gaurav already did some of the work with his two initial videos.
Some reservations I have:
- 1. I think at this stage your setup looks fine and I'd be more interested in seeing what kind of results you get without a fancy setup than say spending $ on expensive audio / camera equipment.
- 2. More generally, if I donate say $50 I'd prefer this $50 to go directly to one hour of your time than say contribute for a $1k camera or similar. Today our phones are generally as good or better than $1k cameras.
- 3. However, I could see a version of this where you could break down exactly what kind of cheap green screen + light + software you'd want to use, and say like "I really think that I'd need $300 to buy this $200 light, $40 green screen, and subscribe to Adobe Premiere Pro for 3 months ($20 * 3) which would make my life really easier as a friend of mine could teach me Premiere Pro."
- 4. I think the goals in "What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?" are not quantifiable as is.
Example of quantiable goals:
"""
My goal is to try to see if I could produce valuable explainers on AI Governance. I plan to make one video on compute governance, one video on the EU AI Act, and one final video on another legislative update as it occurs, or if nothing important happens I'd be default talk about [Insert video idea you want to do anyway]. If by [date] I don't get [X people telling me they found it more than 8/10 valuable] or [Y views] then I'd consider I am not a good fit.].
"""
I should say that really the two videos were quite engaging and I ended up watching a good chunk (few minutes), and that overall this looks quite promising. Simply looking for more clarity on the precise needs & concrete plan.
Gaurav Yadav
over 1 year ago
@michaeltrazzi Hey Michaël, thanks. I appreciate you sharing your reservations. I am quite time constrained at the moment so didn't put in a whole lot of effort to this application, but it now seems useful to do that. I hope to write a clarified version of this in a day or two.
Neel Nanda
over 1 year ago
@michaeltrazzi +1, in particular, donating money to help you spend more time on this would feel noticeably more exciting than more time for better hardware/software/etc - I don't know if your time is fungible though Gaurav?
Gaurav Yadav
over 1 year ago
@michaeltrazzi Hi Michaël, I've updated the project to include more detail. Let me know what you think.
Gaurav Yadav
over 1 year ago
@NeelNanda Hi Neel, I've taken this feedback. My time is somewhat fungible. I expect to spend only part of my time on this (25-30 hours). I've updated the project to prioritize using part of the funds here to pay for my time. I think there are only things I would end up paying for, an editing software and maybe a better microphone. I don't expect to spend money on any other software/hardware. It seems to me that whatever I have is a viable setup for now.
donated $40
Michaël Rubens Trazzi
over 1 year ago
@GauravYadav This looks much better, thanks.
I've now watched the two videos you linked in full and gave feedback through the appropriate channels.
Offering a small amount for now to signal support. Could imagine doing a bigger donation, especially if more donations happen (to bring the project closer to minimum funding), or if there's new evidence that comes up (say you publish a new video before the "24 days left to contribute" that I think is especially promising).