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Summary

In recent years, journalists have been reaching out to AI safety group leaders to learn more about their work. While we generally support speaking with the media, we advise approaching these interactions with caution.

Always involve the Kairos team before engaging with the media. Journalists have their own goals, and having proper guidance greatly improves your chances of a fair outcome.

Key Points

• Misrepresentation is common, even in generally positive pieces.
• Some journalists are intellectually curious and looking for an interesting, fair story. Engagement with them can be valuable, but still requires care.
• Journalists who are openly adversarial toward the AI safety community are unlikely to change their views through conversation and may use your words against you.

Examples

• Negative outcome: Critical article on SAIA
• Dismissive outcome Futurism: “MIT Student Drops Out Because She Says AGI Will Kill Everyone Before She Can Graduate”
• Neutral or positive outcome: Forbes: “Fear of Super-Intelligent AI is Driving Harvard and MIT Students to Drop Out”
  • The journalist contacted several organizers, and we helped ensure the story was not net-negative. Still, some students still felt misrepresented. See Yixiong from Georgia Tech’s blog post.

If Contacted by a Journalist

1. We can connect you with media training resources, help assess whether you should engage, and provide interview prep and support.
2. Reach out to the Kairos team before speaking with a journalist. </aside>