Ethics for Nerds

Hello everyone,

Now that I got your attention by using some good, old click-bait, let me tell you something really important: many students underestimate how much training it needs to write valid arguments. Writing valid arguments is important in this lecture, so you should allocate enough time for that. Project Phase 4 will ask you to write a valid argument, and so will the exam. We suggest the following timeline to learn validity:

1. Until Monday, May 20: Finish watching the videos of PT2 if you have not already done so.
2. Between Tuesday, May 21 and Monday, May 27: Go to one of the Recap Sessions on how to detect invalidity in the arguments of others. There will be at least three in-person and one online recap session on this topic.
3. Between Tuesday, May 28 and Thursday, June 6: Go to one of the Recap Sessions on how to write valid arguments yourselves. There will be at least five in-person and one online recap session on this topic.
4. While you do Project Phase 4: Attend an office hour to get feedback on your argument.

Best wishes,
Sarah

PS: The feedback for Project Phase 2 went online today. You might want to take a look at the feedback that you got on your personal status page.

Hello everybody,

You will get feedback for your first assignment shortly, most likely on Wednesday. You nevertheless can see a submission called "Revise and Resubmit: Project Phase 1" already. This does not mean that you did not pass. Please use this submission only in one of two cases, namely

1. when you missed the deadline for the submission of Project Phase 1 and want to make a late submission.
2. when you failed your first assignment. You can tell when there is a "not passed" displayed next to your assignment.

The same will hold for every project phase except for phase 6 and 7, where no revise and resubmit will be possible.

Best wishes,
Sarah

Hello everybody,

like it was announced, some recap sessions and office hours will take place online in MS teams. Click the following links if you want to participate:

• Online Recap Sessions, Monday 14:15-15:45
• Online Office Hour, Tuesday 12:00-12:20 (or until all questions have been answered)

You can find the times and places of all non-online meetings in the timetable.

Best,
Sarah

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to give you a quick reminder of today's guest lecture. Elijah Millgram is a very proficient philosopher and usually gives awesome talks that are very entertaining. He even took the time to write an alternative abstract for his talk for you (see below).

Title: Instrumentalism, Moral-Theory Overlays, and the Control Problem
Speaker: Elijah Millgram, professor of philosophy from the University of Utah
Date: today at 4pm at the
Place: German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in building D3 2 (that's next to the Mensa), room Reuse HG 2.17.

Abstract (normal): How do we make sure that the much more capable AI agents of the future behave themselves and don't get out of line? The default response to worries about alignment and the control problem overlays constraints on AI decision making processes which are normally adapted from some familiar moral theory. Examining Stuart Russell's representative proposal makes it clear that recommendations of this kind will not work, and shows why it is a mistake to see the underlying issue as a question of control.
Abstract (fun): You know, evolution tried to build its theory of what we're supposed to be doing into the wetware, and look what *we* did with it: ultraprocessed junk food, rom-coms, and don't forget the bichon frisees and shih tzus. Why think our own attempts to build moral guidelines into future AI are going to fare any better? We should be taking a completely different approach, where our objective is not to *control* the AI agents we build, but to make healthy relationships with them possible, by ensuring that we can get a divorce when we want one.

The lecture is optional, but it will for sure be interesting! The event is public, so if you know anyone else who wants to attend, you can bring them along. The lecture is not recorded or streamed.

I hope to see many of you around!
Sarah

Hello everyone,

Please note that you can find all dates of office hours, recap sessions and deep dive sessions in the timetable. This week, no sessions are taking place. I was informed that there was a mistake in the timetable this morning, falsely claiming that the deep dive session will take place today. If you planned to attend and found yourself in an empty seminar room, please apologize! There will be cookies in the next deep dive session to make it up to you. (Please don't attend for the cookies only, though.)

Best wishes
Sarah

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the great first lecture! I want to let anyone who did not attend the lecture know a few important things and remind those who attended:

1. The Ethics for Nerds study: You are invited to take part in a study on the effects of Ethics for Nerds. It would be a huge help for me if you could take part, and you can even win one of ten gift cards worth 20€. You are entirely anonymous to me, and I will never be able to know what you answered during the survey or whether you even took place. So, there is no risk involved in taking part. You can only take part until the end of this week. You can enter the survey on your personal status page or via a link in an email that you will receive shortly.
    
2. The guest lecture: We will have a guest lecture called "Instrumentalism, Moral-Theory Overlays, and the Control Problem" by Elijah Millgram from the Univeristy of Utah. It will take place this Thursday, on April 25 at 4pm at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in building D3 2 (that's next to the Mensa), room Reuse HG 2.17. The lecture is optional, but it will for sure be interesting! You can also find the time and location in the timetable. The event is public, so if you know anyone else who wants to attend, you can bring them along.
    
3. Lecture recordings: Please watch the recording of the first lecture if you did not attend, since I explain important information on the course, especially concerning its organization and the exam admission. You can find the lecture recordings and the slides in the dCMS in the Materials section.

Best wishes,
Sarah