A good point but I mean I doubt anyone engaging with this post also clicked on the NYTimes post. This wasn't driving engagement for them

It's saddening when you come to grips with how much this is of the entire internet.

The New York Times seems in a bad place overall right now, they have so much top journalism and journalists, but they are showing major rifts between popularity and profit seeking and serving the public.

Aaannnddd I misspelled onomatopoeia, of course. Well, first post out soon—thanks!

Thanks in advance for any questions, comments, or critiques—and thanks for reading. 16/16

Relatedly, if you have an idea of something I could help with; something you'd like to see written about, or looked into, like a new research result from the fields of AI safety or ethics, I'd love to hear it. (Either publicly here, or in private, at mrorvig@gmail.com.) 15/16

This will undoubtedly be a tall order, but I'm reasonably confident in my ability to find stories that matter, and I'm also well aware of the great need for more of them. 14/16

Nevertheless, it's also clear that the internet is where our society has come (or been driven) to live, and if I want to write articles that serve the public, which is indeed my mission, I need to figure out how to engage with it. 13/16

I have a lot of questions about how to build real communities online and how I should engage with them on a personal and professional level. 12/16

I have mixed feelings about participating in online platforms, as on a personal level, I often find them to be addicting, self-promoting, and engagement-baiting cesspools of epic proportions. I am also somewhat of a lurker by disposition. 11/16

In this case, I'll be looking to connect with readers primarily by sharing articles on online platforms like BlueSky, Reddit, Less Wrong, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. 10/16

Finally, one thing I've come to learn over the past couple years is that journalism doesn't fulfill its purpose without connecting with a readership who stand to benefit. 9/16

Although this funding comes from an organization affiliated with the effective altruism movement, to be clear, all my writing for Foom will be editorially independent, with no outside interference. 8/16

My plan is to publish one article every week or so (as time permits) for at least six-to-twelve months, with initial funding provided by a generous grant from the Effective Ventures Foundation, or more specifically the EA Funds Long Term Future Fund. 7/16

That said, I'm someone who mainly likes to keep my own views out of my writing and focus on exploring and investigating the views of others. 6/16

For me, current impacts can already seem pretty existential, even if they might be less dramatic. Speaking glibly, if you wanted to pigeonhole me as an AI doomer, I would be one who marked the 'all of the above' checkbox. 5/16

With my articles, I'll be trying to serve both the communities concerned about the existential risks of AI as well as the communities concerned about current impacts, and serve them equally, on an even footing. 4/16

My basic goal with the website is to provide an original, high-quality source of news and analysis on the science and technology of AI, which is being pushed through a period of explosive change—especially in its societal impacts. 3/16