Abstract

AI safety is a young science. In its early history, deep and speculative questions regarding the risks of artificial superintelligence attracted the attention of basic science and philosophy, but the near-horizon focus of industry and governance, coupled with shorter safety timelines, means that applied science is now taking a bigger hand in the field's future. As the science of AI safety matures, it is critical to establish a research tradition that balances the need for foundational understanding with the demand for relevance to practical applications. We claim that “use-inspired basic research” – which grounds basic science with a clear-cut purpose – strikes a good balance between pragmatism and rigor that will ensure the solid foundations, flexibility, and utility appropriate for a problem of this scope and magnitude.