Debate over a PhD student's AI safety thesis trouble: department or student at fault?
avt_im · x · 2026-11-14
Researcher avtim weighed in on a PhD student reportedly running into trouble over AI safety work: if the issue is that the work is in AI safety done to that field's standards, the fault lies with the department, not the student — though if the ideas themselves were unsound, the reverse holds. He notes it's hard to judge from afar. In a follow-up he adds that since the student had little trouble securing Bay Area funding, he leans toward the student's ideas not being the problem.
Related event: Debate over PhD student's troubles doing AI safety research(2 posts)→
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