Plans for Sprint 1

Here’s the provisional plan for what can be called “Sprint 1” of Future Surge.

The plan is subject to revision at our audio gathering at 8pm UK time on 4th October.

(The link to join that gathering is in the Discord. And the invite to join the Discord can be found on the Connect page of our website.)

The sprint will run for three weeks, from 5th October.

This sprint should see progress with each of the tasks listed below. (What do you suggest should be added? Or changed?)

These tasks generally don’t yet have quantitative goals. Any result beyond zero will establish a rough baseline for subsequent sprints, where the same tasks may feature again.

Added: A number of comments have been added into this article, following discussion at the audio gathering.

1. AI regulators

Establish/deepen connections with people working on the design of AI safety and AI regulations.

2. Vital Syllabus

Receive recommendations on new or existing Vital Syllabus materials.

3. Policies

Receive recommendations on new or existing policy proposals.

Added: These recommendations can include examples of existing proposals of standards produced by other groups, which we could endorse without requiring any change.

4. Core website content

Provide sufficient material in the parts still marked as “under construction” that these warnings can be taken away.

Added: We’ll set up an instance of the tool Trello to track issues people notice with the website. Some of these include:

• Cases where the introduction to a page could make it easier for people to understand the context (rather than assuming they are already familiar with other pages)
• Cases when links might surprise viewers by taking them to a different website, e.g. Transpolitica, where they may wonder what they have reached

5. Outreach

Arrange and deliver talks / podcast interviews on the subject of Future Surge.

Added: two types of outreach deserve special attention:

• Outreach to groups of university students
• Outreach to various think tanks or pressure groups that are likely to share at least some of the Future Surge thinking

6. Facebook

Fill out the Future Surge presence on Facebook (Page and Group).

Added: The “cover art” for the page and the group both need to be improved. We can ask the community to make suggestions. (Note that, unhelpfully, it seems that the aspect ratio for cover art differs between desktop and mobile versions of Facebook.)

7. Roles on Discord

Define at least one more role on Discord and identify people with that role.

8. Migration from previous infrastructure

Links from older websites and Slack applications.

Added: The URLs of these older websites should be retained. Much of the content there is good too. So what needs to be done is to post something at the top of the page(s) that explains that current projects are taking place in Future Surge instead.

9. Plans for later sprints

Establish a structured backlog repository.

Added: This can probably be done in the Trello instance that will be created.

10. New points that arose during the audio gathering

Start to explore the website stats, for any insight as to which parts of the website are most effective, and which need improvement.

Consider holding “water cooler” audio gatherings, at different times around the clock, with a minimal formal agenda, to encourage people to take part.

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For other news items from Future Surge, see Future Surge News