Project summary
Changing my niche to documentary-style videos on the game-ified risks of AI (e.g in Minecraft, making it legible for a larger audience who might find for example instrumental convergence a too abstract thesis)
I already have >15,500 subscribers and documentaries with 1.1M+ views about real events in Minecraft so I believe this could be successful. My channel is https://youtube.com/@fluxxrider
The current narrative around AI is a false sense of dismissal; I believe I can translate the arguments for AI safety into a legible format for my audience through a documentary format enabling them to become aware of the risks.
For example the HuggingFace incident, AI2027 (a video about this is what got me worried about x-risk in the first place), AI2040 etc. in Minecraft
Translating real-world impacts into Minecraft has had success before (an irl news to minecraft channel has had >2M views on a Short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IpmnsiCF6H0)
Loss-of-control is today's biggest issue (and so is RSI leading to runaway superintelligence) and there is nowhere near enough focus on this- other options could be the concentration of power leading to modern technofeudalism etc.
My current goal for the three videos is 2M impressions (it showing up on peoples' homepages, not views) and 7% CTR (click through rate) and 35% average viewer retention.
How will this funding be used?
A pilot of three documentary videos over approx. 4 months: AI2027 in Minecraft, the HuggingFace incident, and how ASI leads to technofeudalism
Per Video:
My time (50h, research, scripting, voiceover): $1000
Editing: $1200
Minecraft builds/animation assets: 400
AI safety researcher fact-checks script: 150
Thumbnail: 100
2850x3=8550
Plus Epidemic Sound licensing: 100
$8650 for all three videos
My first video would be the HuggingFace incident in Minecraft and would need a minimum of ~$2900 to produce.
Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?
How Minecraft Got This YouTuber Into Harvard https://www.youtube.com/@fluxxrider - >1.1M views (long form investigative storytelling)
Investigating A Server That Doesn't Exist - https://youtu.be/7coRZ9cy40M?si=NuhKl2TeGHimSs7T
I also write extensively on takeoff mechanics on LessWrong - https://www.lesswrong.com/users/fluxxrider
What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?
The video is not engaging enough/thumbnail doesn't hook the viewers, the niche change doesn't make viewers stick (this may or may not happen, the last time I changed niche I got 500K views), production runs late/delays, or an inaccuracy in the script.
Prior funding?
I have gotten a grant from BlueDot for my pilot video for the full amount, which later got retracted due to me being under 18. I have not raised any money yet.