Foresight June 2024 Newsletter - Foresight Institute
June 2024
Vision Weekend Europe is merely two weeks away; July 12-14. This year, not only are we hosting our first summer Vision Weekend, but it will be held in a stunning Renaissance palace in Germany.
The theme is “Paths to Progress”, across bio, nano, neuro, AI, crypto, and space. Join for the (un)conference, conference, office hours, satellite gatherings, sunset dinner, cyberfutures ball, secret castle tours followed by poetry readings, wine all the way from New Zealand, piano recitals, violin recitals, dj sets, sci-fi costume closets, and surprise experiences.
Speakers include: Eric Drexler (University of Oxford), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Hendrik Dietz (Dietz Lab), Anders Sandberg (University of Oxford), Catalin Mitelut (NYU), Muriel Richard-Noca (ClearSpace), Nikolina Lauc (GlycanAge),
João Pedro de Magalhães (University of Birmingham), Jeremy Barton, Toby Pilditch (Transformative Futures Institute) Matjaž Leonardis (University of Oxford), Trent McConaghy (Ocean Protocol), Chiara Herzog (University of Edinburgh)
Ticket sales close July 7th, so if you have not already secured your place, then make sure you do so today: https://foresight.org/vw2024eu/
LBF & Foresight Longevity Workshop
Dates: July 28-29, California
Key Speakers: Laura Deming, Michael Snyder, Peter Fedichev, Vadim Gladyshev, Joe Betts-Lacroix, and Jean Hebert.
To Sponsor the Workshop, don’t hesitate to get in touch with niamh@foresight.org
Foresight Space Frontiers and Governance Workshop
Dates: September 20-21, 2024
Location: Chabot Space Center, Bay Area
Molecular Machines Workshop
Dates: To be announced (details anticipated soon)
Our one year program is designed to help Fellows excel:
1-1 introductions to relevant funders, senior scientists, and mentors.
Optional quarterly career counselling calls, and networking opportunities with Alum.
Travel-paid invitations to attend one in-person Foresight technical workshop and one Vision Weekend.
An invitation to become a member of a technical Foresight group relevant to your interests, and the option of presenting your work in a virtual seminar to that group.
Access to our community: share your career successes in our newsletter and socials
Applications for the 2025 Foresight Fellowship close July 31, 2024.
The Foresight Feynman Prizes
Foresight Institute wishes to recognize recent and brilliant achievements that contribute profoundly to the field of Nanotechnology. Prize categories include: Grand, Theory, Experiment, and Student.
The Foresight Norm Hardy Prize
Security is only possible if users can understand the implications of their actions. The Norm Hardy Prize encourages work that helps users make wise decisions.
Biomarkers of Aging Longevity Prize
There is no clear scientific consensus on what biomarkers best measure the health impacts of aging and could be used for judging the effectiveness of medical or behavioral interventions. Without clear standards, regulatory bodies cannot judge the effectiveness of treatments, and the longevity community will struggle to bring aging interventions to the world. This prize rewards a worldwide effort to develop rigorous, economically scalable assessment panels for aging biomarkers. Prize Award: $200,000
Foresight Fellowship Updates
We are thrilled to share that Samuel Jardine represented the Open Lunar Foundation at the UN COPUOS as a delegate. Samuel also had the honor of participating in the UN’s first lunar sustainability conference as an expert delegate.
Additionally, Open Lunar has officially launched the Lunar Policy Platform at the UN. They held their first side event at COPUOS in partnership with the Secure World Foundation and the Republic of Korea. Samuel is thrilled to be shaping the future of lunar policy and sustainability.
The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death
Unlock the secrets to immortality with Dr. Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston’s groundbreaking work, ‘The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death.’ Dive into this Kindle edition to explore the science, ethics, and possibilities of a deathless future.
Nora Amaann joined ARIA as a Technical Specialist for Davidad’s Program on Safeguarded AI.
June Seminars
LabWeek Field Building at Edge Esmeralda
Highlights from LabWeek Field Building at Edge Esmeralda in collaboration with Protocol Labs. A week of groundbreaking science, tech innovation, and collaboration in Healdsburg, CA. The LabWeek Report will be released soon.
External Conferences
Existential Hope Drop # 27:
Roman Yampolskiy: The Case for Narrow AI
This month, we’re proud to feature Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, a leading voice in AI Safety.
Dr. Yampolskiy stands out in the AI safety community by advocating for narrow, task-oriented AI systems. “I’m arguing that it’s impossible to control superintelligent systems indefinitely,” he cautions. Despite the challenges, Dr. Yampolskiy is optimistic about the future. He believes that narrow AI can effectively help address complex issues in everything from politics and relationships to longevity and health.”
Community Updates
Netholabs – Operations Specialist Position
Help build a Whole Brain Emulation research lab in the London area:
Apply: https://www.agencyfoundations.ai/we-re-hiring
Harmony Intelligence – Founding Research Engineer Position
Harmony Intelligence, focused on reducing catastrophic AI risk by building evals and conducting red teaming/audits, has a new open position for a Founding Research Engineer. We’re. Our team is mission-driven (structured like a PBC) and remote-first, with folks in San Francisco, US, and Sydney, Australia.
Apply: harmonyintelligence.com/jobs.
ILIAD: The 5-Day Conference on Theoretical AI Alignment
Applications are now open for ILIAD, a 5-day, multi-track conference gathering around 100 researchers dedicated to theoretical AI alignment, August 28 – September 3, at Lighthaven, Berkeley. Engage in a mix of topic-specific tracks and unconference-style programming. Explore Singular Learning Theory, Agent Foundations, Causal Incentives, Computational Mechanics, and more.
Apply before June 30: liadconference.com
AI Palace is an unconference focused on the political economy of AI. Expect to foster deep relationships, build open-source infrastructure, and brainstorm new institutions (and business models). July 15 – 21—right after Vision Weekend Europe!
Apply: http://bit.ly/3VpdUNQ
Pre-order: The Darwinian Trap: The Hidden Evolutionary Forces That Explain Our World (and Threaten Our Future) by Kristian Rönn (Vision Weekend Europe Speaker)
Kristian examines how evolutionary forces drive short-term thinking and threaten our future. He offers insights on how we can overcome these challenges to ensure long-term survival and prosperity.
Foresight Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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