I worry that most of the focus on "AI for science" is getting it backwards. Try to do great science and build awesome technology. Build AI tools when it would be useful. Setting out to do "AI for science" will lead to all sorts of lamplight effects and square peg round holes. - ThreadSky

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benjaminreinhardt.com • 36 days ago

I worry that most of the focus on "AI for science" is getting it backwards.

Try to do great science and build awesome technology. Build AI tools when it would be useful.

Setting out to do "AI for science" will lead to all sorts of lamplight effects and square peg round holes.

Comments

luxaritas.com•36 days ago

A charitable view of what’s happening is people wanting to funnel resources to people already working on AI applied to science or exploring it as an approach. But I do worry that there’s an exclusionary focus which will divert from other important problems, thanks to the hype cycle.

luxaritas.com•36 days ago

Yes, it can be useful and even transformative. But as you said, it should be *a* tool, where useful

benjaminreinhardt.com•35 days ago

I think the problem is that whenever you channel money is so coarse grained a way, it either changes people's priorities or dilutes the impact because people *don't* change their priorities but claim they do.

luxaritas.com•35 days ago

Yeah. As we’re spinning up our new nonprofit and trying to make up funds, I’m having to check myself to avoid that. It’s easy to see all sorts of grants we could find a way to apply to (especially in GenAI), but… is that actually worth our time? Or is it a distraction for all involved?

luxaritas.com•35 days ago

FFWD’s tech nonprofit playbook quoted Stephen Covey “keep the main thing the main thing”. I have to ask myself “is this moving the needle I set out for? Or is it preventing me from doing that?”

luxaritas.com•35 days ago

It may be you have to take the compromise to survive. Or maybe it’s the right thing at the wrong time. But it’s so easy to chase after the wrong thing just because it’s there.

neurostats.org•35 days ago

💯

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