Top AI Safety Summit in May Suffers from a Comedy of Notable No-Shows
“Notable absences hit the AI Safety Summit taking place in May”
“One after the other, they’re dropping out. Some of the biggest names in AI safety are conspicuously absent from the speaker list for the second AI safety summit due in May.”
In a surprising twist of events, the upcoming second AI Safety Summit seems to be bereft of the industry’s luminaries. For reasons known only to insiders, many of the brightest minds in the artificial intelligence safety spectrum have decided to play hide-and-seek, effectively vanishing from the speaker’s list.
Now, it could be the usual round of professional elbow-nudging, last-minute schedule clashes, or the intrigue of industry politics. Or maybe, the AI safety elite have developed an uncanny aversion to summits, or they have just discovered a newfound affinity for May vacations. Whatever the reasons behind the mass exodus, the undeniable fact remains that their absence will cast a long shadow on this event.
It’s a bit like the Beatles deciding not to turn up for their own concert, or the England football team missing the World Cup finals – a gut-wrenching disappointment for those who were eagerly looking forward to witnessing firsthand the fireworks of intellectual discussions on AI safety. Their absence has relegated what was supposed to be preeminent discussion forum to just another, well, meeting.
But, of course, let’s look at the bright side. Their not-so-subtle absence does offer an excellent opportunity for fresh voices to be heard, for the next set of AI safety crusaders to step into the limelight, and for the summit to put safety first in every ounce of its proceedings. After all, it’s not about the who, it’s about the what – what matters is the cause of AI safety and the proactive discourse around it.
So, while the cat’s away, the mice do have a chance to play. The second AI Safety Summit may yet turn out to be a great platform for the emerging talents in the field. Albeit, one can’t help but feel an oversized void, given the conspicuous absence of the very maestros who would’ve swept us off our feet with their deep-dive discussions into AI safety.