By Alan Tan
I’m deeply grateful to BLI for supporting my trip to EAG New York City
this year. Last November, when BLI funded my trip to EAG Boston, I went
seeking mentorship and career direction. This time felt completely different.
I went hoping to give back to the community, help others navigate their
paths, and share what I’ve learned working on AI alignment.
My original proposal centered on three goals: connecting with senior
researchers for feedback on my project, building relationships with people
doing community-building work in AI safety, and exploring opportunities to
bring speakers to Michigan. I’m happy to say I achieved all three, though the
experience taught me as much as it allowed me to contribute.
What surprised me most was how much time I spent on the other side
of the conversation. Younger students and peers approached me asking
about getting into AI safety research, navigating the EA community, or
connecting contemplative practice with technical work. I found myself
introducing people to each other, pointing folks toward the right researchers
to talk to, and sharing what I’ve learned about the field. It was humbling and
energizing at the same time.
The speaker invitation felt like the culmination of this shift. Through
conversations at EAG, I was able to bring a researcher from Anthropic to
Michigan for a talk. The event drew around 50 graduate students and
postdocs, plus three professors, way beyond what I’d hoped for. Seeing
Michigan’s community engage so deeply with these ideas made the whole
trip worthwhile.
The conversations I had, the connections I made, and especially the
opportunity to bring valuable resources back to Michigan reinforced
something important for me: leadership in this space is about sharing
knowledge generously and creating opportunities for others to contribute
their unique perspectives to solving some of humanity’s most important
challenges. I’m grateful to BLI for making this growth possible.
