How can I improve my life situation before working on AI alignment?
Trying to do hard things without stable foundations is asking for trouble, so if some areas of your life aren’t going so well, it’s probably best to direct what energy you have into getting those into better shape first. Attempting to make major life changes aimed at improving humanity’s long-term future while in a difficult place personally can be counterproductive – for example, it could lead to burnout or financial trouble.
Booking a call with AI Safety Quest is a good place to start. Their volunteers offer free calls for people who would like to contribute, and have a good deal of experience helping people navigate toward contributing.
The Effective Altruism (EA) and AI safety communities have some other support resources.
Some funding sources are listed here. A body of work which could be valuable for attaining financial independence rapidly can be found on the Early Retirement Extreme website.
If you need help resolving psychological or motivational issues, some helpful resources might be:
-
80,000 Hours’ evidence-based advice on how to be successful in any job
Another great resource is this post, which compiles many resources and links to advice.
If you’re struggling with guilt around not working hard enough on important things, consider reading the Replacing Guilt series by MIRI director Nate Soares.
If you need help with something not listed here, please ask the people who are developing this website for advice and we’ll work to improve this answer.
While you’re working on whichever area of your life needs attention, it’s probably good to keep learning about the AI alignment field to prepare you for contributing in the future. Exploring the questions on this site is a great way to find resources, so take a look around.