Project summary

PauseAI is a grassroots community of volunteers which aim to inform the public and politicians about the risks from superhuman AI and urge them to work towards an international treaty that prevents the most dangerous AI systems from being developed.

PauseAI is largely organised through local communities which take actions to spread awareness such as letter writing workshops, peaceful protests, flyering and giving presentations. 

The funding in this project will be used to provide local organizers with funding to help them set up and grow these local communities. 

What are this project's goals and how will you achieve them?

Help local PauseAI communities organize events and grow, so these communities become more effective at increasing awareness of AI risks and the governance solutions that we can get to achieve them.

How will this funding be used?

It will be exclusively used to directly fund local PauseAI organizers. Every organizer can apply for EUR 2100/yr as a volunteer stipend. This amount should cover 8 hrs of volunteering per week. This amount corresponds to the maximum annual amount that can be provided tax-free to volunteers under Dutch tax law. Our goal (42000) would fund 20 local organizers.

In return, local organizers are expected to host at least 6 events per year, 3 of which should be impact-focused (e.g. letter writing, protesting, flyering).

PauseAI will coordinate with local community leaders and provide them with materials and support to increase their chances of being successful.

Who is on your team and what's your track record on similar projects?

Joep Meindertsma is team lead and founder of PauseAI. He’s been primarily responsible for growing the PauseAI community so far (+/- 2000 members, 100 registered volunteers).

Sophie Wucherer is community manager of PauseAI. She has experience running and growing a local EA community (Maastricht).

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails? (premortem)

• Unclear expectations. If we fail to properly communicate with local organizers, they may focus on the wrong activities or not work hard enough to grow their community.

• Lack of autonomy by being too controlling. If we, as PauseAI global, are too restrictive, that could dampen initiative and motivation, leading to a lack of action.

• Net-negative messaging / outreach. If we do not control / vet enough, some organizers may spread messages that could poison the well, or misrepresent AI risks. It is our job to provide materials and guidance to organizers to help them communicate effectively.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

About 80% of our funding comes from donations from individuals. We’re also applying for grants (e.g. SFF). However, this is the frist time we’re applying specifically for funding to be used exclusively for local communities.