AI Safety Study Group

## Why
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are already extremely powerful tools that are having a massive impact on society. These tools are only becoming more powerful and in the future could potentially even lead to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) or [Superintelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superintelligence). While there is amazing potential for these technologies to positively impact the future there is also a huge risk that they could have an enormous negative impact (including [possible extinction](https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html)) either through accidental misuse or through malicious intent. Meanwhile, despite the potential risks, AI Safety is a very neglected area of research which means that any work done on the topic can have an outsized impact. Taking this into account, 80,000 Hours estimates that [working on AI Safety is one of the most effective ways to have a positive impact on the world](https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/).

## What is the idea
I'd like to start a study group to learn more about the issues and see if we might be able to contribute to any of the directions of research.

## Potential Partner(s)?
- For local contacts, we might want to reach out to:
- DU Senior Research Fellow [Heather Roff](https://futureoflife.org/ai-researcher-heather-roff/)
- CU Senior Research Associate [Seth Herd](https://futureoflife.org/ai-researcher-seth-herd/)
- Outside Colorado some organization options are:
- [OpenAI](https://openai.com/)
- [The Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI)](https://intelligence.org/)
- [The Future of Humanity Institute (FHI)](https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/)
- [Global Catastrophic Risks Institute (GCRI)](http://gcrinstitute.org/)
- [The Center for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER)](http://cser.ac.uk/)
- [Center for Human-Compatible AI (CFHCA)](http://humancompatible.ai/)

## Additional Background Context
Further reading:
- [Why AI Safety](https://intelligence.org/why-ai-safety/)
- [No Time Like the Present for AI Safety Work](http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/29/no-time-like-the-present-for-ai-safety-work/)

## Details
_Champion_: [To be filled out during exploration stage]
_Repo_: [To be filled out during exploration stage]
_Waffle Board_: [To be filled out during exploration stage]