**Summary of Key Points on Geoffrey Hinton’s Resignation and AI Warnings**

**Who is Geoffrey Hinton?

**
Geoffrey Hinton is often called the “godfather of AI.” He is one of the most influential figures in the development of artificial intelligence, especially in deep learning—a form of AI that uses neural networks inspired by the human brain.

His pioneering work laid the groundwork for major advances in AI, like image and speech recognition and language models such as ChatGPT.

**Why did Hinton’s resignation make headlines?

**
In 2023, Hinton resigned from Google, voicing concerns about the risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems.

Hinton’s warnings garnered widespread attention because of his stature in the AI community and because he helped invent the technology that now worries him.

**What are Hinton’s main concerns?

**
- **AI’s Rapid Progress:** Hinton and other leading figures did not expect AI systems, like those developed by OpenAI (e.g., ChatGPT), to become so powerful so quickly.

- **Existential Risks:** Hinton warns that if AI is not handled properly, it might eventually pose an “existential threat” to humanity.

While current AI is not yet as intelligent as humans, he believes it soon could be—and that we are not fully prepared for potential consequences.

- **Social Harm:** AI could be used to spread misinformation or create fake realities on a mass scale, especially when combined with manipulation of social media.

- **Economic Impact:** Hinton has mentioned that AI could increase inequality and social unrest if job displacement leads to a bigger gap between rich and poor.

**How have other experts responded?

**
- **Mixed Views:** Some experts, like Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, argue that AI possessing human-like desires to dominate isn’t likely, suggesting fears may be overstated.

- **Calls for Regulation:** Policymakers and international bodies, including the U.N., are increasingly urging better guardrails and regulation to manage AI risks.

**Summary of Key Points on Geoffrey Hinton’s Resignation and AI Warnings**

**Who is Geoffrey Hinton?

Title:

Content: Yoshua Bengio

1 minute read
By Geoffrey Hinton

Yoshua Bengio is a world leader in AI. Throughout his career, Yoshua’s research has been instrumental in shaping the world’s understanding of AI’s potential—and that same expertise has made his perspective more essential than ever. His pioneering research on deep learning laid the foundations for the current revolution in AI and earned him the 2018 Turing Award—“the Nobel Prize of Computing”—alongside myself and Yann LeCun. Last year, Yoshua received Canada’s highest award for research, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal. He is the computer scientist with the greatest number of citations and is ranked third among all disciplines for scientific impact.

Yoshua has been concerned for many years with the social impact of artificial intelligence, contributing to the Montreal Declaration for the Responsible Development of AI. Over the past year, worried by the potential for catastrophic outcomes from future AI, he was vocal in global conversations on AI safety. He advised the U.N. Secretary-General and the U.K. AI Safety Institute, and took part in policy discussions with governments in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Hinton is a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist

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Why did Hinton leave Google when he helped develop AI but later grew concerned about its dangers?

**
Geoffrey Hinton is often called the “godfather of AI.” He is one of the most influential figures in the development of artificial intelligence, especially in deep learning—a form of AI that uses neural networks inspired by the human brain.

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Proud Boys

4 Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy, latest AI warning: 5 Things podcast

Taylor Wilson
USA TODAY

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio, guilty of seditious conspiracy for Jan. 6

Several Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Plus, banking anxieties continue, USA TODAY World Affairs Correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard reports on protests over proposed reforms in Israel, an autopsy reveals Tyre Nichols was killed by blunt force trauma to the head, and USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer looks at the latest debate around artificial intelligence.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 things you need to know Friday, the 5th of May 2023. Today, a verdict for the Proud Boys. Plus, more bank anxiety, and we hear the latest from protests in Israel.

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three lieutenants were found guilty yesterday of entering a seditious conspiracy against the US government, leading to the January 6th, 2021 Capitol attack. A fifth Proud Boy was acquitted of the charge. Prosecutors said Tarrio was the leader of the plot, despite not being in Washington that day. His arrest two days before the insurrection on unrelated charges and the stabbing of several Proud Boys at a protest in December 2020 served as motivators to try and stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to the government. Tarrio's attorneys argued that he was just the government's scapegoat. They said the true culprit of January 6th was former President Donald Trump.

PacWest Bancorp saw its shares plunge earlier this week, dropping more than 39% at one point. The bank said yesterday that it was considering asset sales and has been approached by several parties about a deal. The bank insists that it has not experienced a high number of customer withdrawals in the wake of the failure and sale of First Republic Bank after a modern day bank run. But anxiety over regional bank stability appeared to spread late this week. Comerica slumped more than 8% and TD Bank Group and First Horizon called off a planned merger citing regulatory hurdles.

Months long protests for and against proposed judicial reforms in Israel will continue this weekend, with tens of thousands expected on the streets of Tel Aviv and elsewhere. Many of the protests are accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right wing coalition of using the reforms to get around the checks and balances of government, and of turning Israel into more of a religious state that could even amount to a dictatorship. Others say they just want their views reflected by a parliament they elected. I sat down with USA TODAY World Affairs Correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard, who recently traveled to Israel, to learn more. Kim, thanks for hopping on 5 Things.

Kim Hjelmgaard:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Protests have erupted across Israel over these proposed judicial reforms. Some folks opposed to the reforms have said if they're enacted, Israel will not be a democracy anymore. Others even suggest the reforms would make Israel a dictatorship. What's your general perspective on that?

Kim Hjelmgaard:

My general perspective is that Israel is a pretty healthy democracy. Like all democracies, it's not perfect. Constitutional legal scholars say there is space for reform. And this is one of the things that the people who are leading these reforms are saying, look, we can't get laws passed that sort of reflect what our constituents want. The ability to, for example, have separate concerts for men and women, or we can't get laws passed that would allow us to kind of sufficiently build the infrastructure of settlements in the West Bank.

However, it's kind of problematic because if you look at something like a settlement in the West Bank, these things are not legal by international standards. They're often built on Palestinian land.

One of the things about these proposed reforms that the protestors are so angry about has to do with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He's in the middle of a corruption case and he's on trial for it. He's suddenly taken an interest in these reforms because they kind of essentially enable him, through a majority in parliament which his government controls, to kind of get a get out of jail free card a bit. So let's say Netanyahu's convicted, there is the possibility that he can't be removed from power. So the protestors are kind of saying this is just not a healthy thing for a democracy.

Taylor Wilson:

Kim, you mentioned the international community. What is the US government's stance on these reforms and on all of the protests that have happened in recent months?

Kim Hjelmgaard:

US government, as some listeners may be aware, is Israel's biggest source of foreign military aid. The US was the first country in the world to recognize Israel as a country, and the Biden administration has expressed quite publicly, quite loudly, that it does not like the look of these reforms. It feels that they are not democratic, that they're problematic for various reasons.

Taylor Wilson:

And finally, Kim, what's next for these reform proposals and the protests in the coming months?

Kim Hjelmgaard:

Well, things have kind of been stalled since before the Passover holiday, which was last month, when essentially the Parliament went on recess. And Netanyahu, he was kind of faced with this growing escalating insurrection from the Israeli public. There was a series of kind of walkouts from different labor unions, teachers, airport workers went on strike. And they kind of reached this moment where Netanyahu was like, whoa, he needed to calm things down before all of Israeli society kind of unraveled. And so he paused it.

Parliament came back last week. The protestors are still there. The political establishment in Israel is kind of talking about how they're going to try to reach some kind of compromise on this. And nothing has really changed, and it is a kind of standoff where both sides are digging in. But over the last couple of weeks, pro-reform people have started to protest in bigger numbers. A week ago there was about 200,000 of them that showed up outside of the Knesset, which is the Israeli parliament.

So I think everyone in Israel, as far as I can tell, is kind of scratching their heads going, this is not getting any better. In fact, it's getting worse. And one of the places where it could go is another election. And Israel has had five elections since 2019, I believe it is, because they couldn't agree with each other about exactly how to move this country forward. So who knows where that would end up.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. USA TODAY World Affairs Correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard. Thanks so much.

Kim Hjelmgaard:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

An autopsy revealed yesterday that Tyre Nichols was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. The 29-year-old motorist died earlier this year after being brutally beaten by Memphis Police Officers. Nichols' family viewed the autopsy report this week, some four months after Tyre's death. Their attorney, Ben Crump, said the manner of death was homicide. Attorneys said the report was similar to an independent January autopsy that found Nichols suffered extensive bleeding.

♦

Artificial intelligence. No matter how you feel about it, the technology is here. That includes chatbots like ChatGPT, which recently passed a hundred million monthly active users, according to Reuters and others. I spoke with USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer to learn more. Hi there, Josh.

Josh Meyer:

Good to be here. How are you?

Taylor Wilson:

Good, thanks. Thanks for hopping back on. Josh, the Biden White House is concerned about AI being developed by the tech sector and then unleashed on the public with little to no guardrails on how it might be used. What did they say this week?

Josh Meyer:

The Biden administration did have a meeting at the White House, led by Kamala Harris, with some of these tech leaders to talk about some of the reforms that the White House says are needed, including more transparency in the way these companies develop these technologies, giving access to the work in progress by critics and the public, just so they can weigh in on what's happening.

And also, the Biden administration last October released what they called the AI Bill of Rights. That's designed to sort of put more safeguards in place. Right now, that's just a recommendation. And so some critics that say the Biden administration hasn't gone far enough say that that needs to be mandatory, that these companies aren't going to really do much on their own, and that they're going to have to be forced to comply more and to do more in terms of protecting the safety, security, and the privacy of Americans as we go forward.

Taylor Wilson:

And there have been several prominent tech leaders warning about this recently, including the so-called godfather of AI. So Josh, who is the godfather of AI?

Josh Meyer:

The godfather of AI is a guy named Geoffrey Hinton. He's a renowned researcher, vice president at Google. He's also a Toronto professor, and he's spent the last couple of decades at the forefront of innovating and research and development into artificial intelligence and related topics, including ChatGPT.

Taylor Wilson:

And what are some of his concerns about this technology?

Josh Meyer:

He said that his concerns have mostly come about in the last few months, and one of the concerns is that it is becoming so advanced so quickly. One of the things that it's learning to do is simple reasoning. He said that he's concerned that somebody could actually take over the world and push humanity toward extinction.

He was at a seminar yesterday and one of the things that jumped out at me, and everybody else that was there, was he was asked by the panel's moderator, "What's the worst case scenario that you think is conceivable?" And without hesitation, Hinton said, "I think it's quite conceivable that humanity is just a passing phase in the evolution of intelligence."

Taylor Wilson:

Strong words, I would say. Geez.

Josh Meyer:

Yeah. And then he went on to say that even if we think that we're in control of the technology and we can just turn it off, he said it could easily be brought back to life again on another machine if given the proper instructions. And this is another quote from him at the MIT Technology Review conference yesterday. Hinton said, "And it may keep us around for a while to keep the power stations running, but after that, maybe not." So food for thought.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, food for thought. So do other experts agree with this pretty pessimistic outlook?

Josh Meyer:

Actually, after he said that, I wanted to find people that would take exception to it, and I talked to a lot of people. I looked around and a lot of people share his concerns. I did find some people that are a little bit more skeptical, including a longtime trusted source of mine who said, "I think that it's overstated. People need to take a step back. Take a deep breath."

I talked to a guy named Michael Hamilton, who's the co-founder of Critical Insight Risk Management. He's a former advisor to the Department of Homeland Security on tech issues. And he said that computer assisted machine learning, including artificial intelligence, will never be the kind of sentient, self-aware and all-knowing technology that people are afraid of, and that created the Terminator of movie fame. He said basically, artificial intelligence is an extremely sophisticated programming platform that can only go as far as humans allow it.

Taylor Wilson:

Josh, one concern is that AI could wipe out thousands, maybe millions of jobs by making them obsolete. What does he say on that point?

Josh Meyer:

Oh yeah, he's very concerned about that. And so is the White House, as a matter of fact, when they rolled out this new initiative. They said that's one of their biggest concerns. And they want to make sure that the developers of AI, which include Google, Microsoft, and some other companies, that they keep that in mind and make sure that there's guardrails there to prevent that kind of thing from happening.

But we do live in a capitalist economy. According to Hinton, he actually spoke very specifically about it, and he said that, we live in a world where profit comes first and the rich could get richer and the poor get poorer because of ways in which AI is used to do menial tasks that are often done by human beings at a lower range of the pay scale. He said, "It's going to cause huge increases in productivity. My worry is for those increases in productivity to put people out of work and make the rich richer and the poor poorer. And as you do that," Hinton said, "you make that gap bigger and society gets more and more violent."

Taylor Wilson:

Josh Meyer, thanks so much.

Josh Meyer:

Sure.

Taylor Wilson:

And happy Cinco de Mayo. The date marks Mexico's victory over the French empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Special thanks to Cherie Saunders and Alexis Gustin. I'm Taylor Wilson back tomorrow with another episode of 5 Things.

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Breakthroughs that mimic biological brains

His pioneering work laid the groundwork for major advances in AI, like image and speech recognition and language models such as ChatGPT.

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Content: Google seeks to fix fairness in AI technology

By Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press, Toronto

Automation / Robotics Electronics AI artificial intelligence Google Technology

But artificial intelligence still has biases echoed by society

An artificial intelligence researcher at Google says fixing fairness in the technology “isn’t a simple thing,” but the world has an opportunity to get it right as the software explodes in popularity.

“It’s as though we have been given a second chance on how we use this technology to dismantle some of the biases we see in society,” Komal Singh, a senior product manager at the tech goliath, said in a Tuesday media briefing in Toronto.

Her optimism comes as the tech sector – and nearly every other industry – have spent the year abuzz about AI’s promise and perils.

Source: Getty Images

Some see the technology as a game changer bound to disrupt everyday life and bring expediency, efficiency and solutions to some of the globe’s biggest challenges. Others, including Tesla owner Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, warn advances in the technology are moving too fast and guardrails are needed before wide-scale deployments.

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Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian computer scientist widely considered the `godfather of AI’, is so concerned with the technology he left Google so he can more freely discuss the dangers, which he has said include bias and discrimination, joblessness, echo chambers, fake news, battle robots and existential risk. Singh acknowledged AI is not without risks. She’s even seen them firsthand. For example, she said if you ask an AI model to generate an image of a nurse it will often return a woman, while a request for an image of a CEO typically brings up a white man and a query for a software engineer delivers racialized men.

A lot needs to happen to fix the fairness

“In a nutshell, I think the takeaway is a lot needs to happen to fix the fairness problem,” Singh said.

At Google, some of that work has come from studying skin tones because dark and medium tones often can’t be deciphered by computer vision systems, which allow computers to “see and understand” images of people and environments.

“This is problematic because a lot of the social disparities around colourism then get populated into social technical systems, which then end up reinforcing them,” Singh said.

To break the cycle, Google partnered with Harvard University professor, Dr. Ellis Monk to design an open-source skin tone scale that can better detect darker tones and be used by AI models to reduce biases. It’s already been deployed within its camera detection technology, on Pixel phones and in search tools, helping to diversify results so keywords bring up a range of skin tones and hair textures. The company also has a project called Media Understanding for Social Exploration, which studied 12 years of American television shows to analyze representation across skin tones.

Racing to develop and launch the most advanced technology

Their findings were “stark,” Singh said. Over the past 12 years, there was a slight increase in the screen time given to those with dark and medium skin tones, while the amount of time those with lighter skin spent on screen was slightly lower. Such work comes at a pivotal time for AI. Top tech companies are racing to develop and launch the most advanced technology, competing with one another for billions of dollars pouring into the industry.

In Canada, Google estimates generative AI could increase the economy by $210 billion and save the average worker over 100 hours a year. Google leaders accompanying Singh said they’re already using AI to improve breast cancer detection, sequence genomes and develop systems that medical clinicians can plug questions into to generate health guidance. E-commerce giant Shopify Inc. is using the technology to reduce search abandonment, while Canadian National Railway Co. is building a digital supply chain platform with automated shipment tracking, Google workers said.

At Google, AI underpins the company’s search engine, maps and cloud storage and is the basis for Bard, its rival product to ChatGPT, that has yet to launch in Canada. Sam Sebastian, the head of Google Cloud’s Canadian operations, promised it would make its Canadian debut “very soon,” but offered no specific timeline. Instead, he discussed his overall outlook on AI, saying it was a technological shift unlike anything he’s seen in his 25 years working in the industry.

“The only thing close to it is the advent of the mobile phone,” he said.

The transformative nature means anyone in the space needs to balance AI’s potential with its risks, he said. For its part, Google has committed to abide by a series of principles as it delves deeper into AI. It has so far promised not to design or deploy AI technologies that cause or are likely to harm, including weapons or systems used to inflict injuries. It also says it will not work on AI-based “surveillance violating internationally accepted norms” or systems which will contravene laws and human rights.

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Which AI system demonstrates the foundation laid by Hinton's pioneering research in deep learning and neural networks?

**Why did Hinton’s resignation make headlines?

Why did Hinton leave Google when he helped develop AI but later grew concerned about its dangers?

**
In 2023, Hinton resigned from Google, voicing concerns about the risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems.

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A.I. doesn’t bleed

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New knowledge merges with old; what you know shapes what you learn. Artificial neural networks have been studied and computer algorithms have been generated to understand how artificial, computer-generated, neurons, would store a concept, and how it would revise that concept if it was flawed.

Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist often called ‘the godfather of AI,’ is a leading figure in neural networks; studies inspired by the way neurons are connected in the human brain. A New Yorker magazine piece describes his collaborative work in the 1960s and 1970s developing neural nets that couldn’t do anything better than a child. The technology suddenly improved about a decade ago with the large increase in processing speed and Internet data availability.

According to Google Scholar, Hinton is the second most cited researcher among psychologists and the most cited among computer and cognitive scientists.

Hinton has been worried about the potential of AI to do harm and he often talks about the existential threat that AI might pose to the human species. He has used OpenAI’s ChatGPT and this has made him uneasy. He wrote “Fox News is an oxymoron” asking ChatGPT to explain the joke. (Initial reading of this caused me to ponder – a moron full of oxygen??) The first reply told him that this implied Fox News was fake news. When he called attention to the space between oxy and moron, it explained that Fox News was addictive, like the drug OxyContin. To him, this level of understanding represents a new era in AI.

In nature, wildlife learns how to be intelligent without access to concepts expressed in words. They learn to be smart (survive) through experience. Learning, not knowledge, is the engine of intelligence. There is no use trying to explain complicated ideas that you do not understand. First, you must understand how something works. Otherwise, you just produce nonsense.

Because neural networks are so strange, no one can predict how useful – or dangerous – AI will become. OpenAI’s GPT models involve billions of artificial neurons (data) which are profoundly different than biological brains. They are not alive. Our intuitions tell us that nothing resident in a browser tab could really be thinking in the way we do.

Because a human brain can run on oatmeal, the world can support billions of brains, all different. Each brain can learn continuously, rather than being trained once, then pushed out into the world (ship it!).

If the brain dies, the knowledge dies. If a computer dies, load up another computer. Ten thousand neural nets can learn ten thousand different things at the same time and share what they have learned. This immortality (knowledge perpetuity) and replicability suggest we should be concerned about digital intelligence taking over from biological intelligence.

Current AI technology is talkative and intellectual. The problems of physical intuition will be the challenge of the next decade says Yann LeCun, a French computer scientist. A teenager can learn to drive a car in twenty hours of practice with little supervision. AI systems don’t come close to doing this – except self-driving cars – and they are over-engineered, requiring the mapping of whole cities, hundreds of engineers, and hundreds of thousands of hours of training.

And then there is the problem of what some researchers call AI ‘hallucination’, which Hinton names ‘confabulation.’ AI systems confabulate by making up plausible answers to questions that stump them. In the human mind, there is no boundary between just making it up and telling the truth. Telling the truth is just making it up correctly. ChatGPT’s ability to make things up is a flaw, but also a sign of its humanlike intelligence.

When Hinton began his research, no one thought the technology would succeed. When it started to succeed, no one thought it would succeed so quickly. He expects AI will contribute to many fields, but he fears what will happen when powerful people abuse it. Think autonomous weapons. Hinton warns that even benign autonomous systems could wreak havoc. Yann LeCun has said there is an idea that if a system is intelligent it is going to want to dominate. But the desire to dominate has nothing to do with intelligence – it has to do with testosterone.

Recently, Hinton did not sign a popular petition that called for at least a six-month pause in AI research.

“China is not going to stop development for six months.”

“So what should we do?”

“I don’t know. If this were like climate change where we either must stop burning carbon or find a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere, we know what the solution looks like. Here, with AI, it’s not like that.”

Think of the AI story in which our intuitions about the specialness of the human mind are being dislodged by thinking machines, or, having stolen fire, we risk being burned.

Are we fooling ourselves, being taken in by our own machines and the companies that hope to profit from them? By seeking to re-create the knowledge systems in our heads, have we seized the forbidden apple? Have we risked exile from our charmed world? But who would choose not to know how knowing works?

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What did Hinton, the renowned British-Canadian expert reveal about AI that caused widespread concern?

Exposed serious AI risks, shocking the tech world and affecting major company stocks.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?

Why did Hinton leave Google when he helped develop AI but later grew concerned about its dangers?

Hinton’s warnings garnered widespread attention because of his stature in the AI community and because he helped invent the technology that now worries him.

**What are Hinton’s main concerns?

What did Hinton, the renowned British-Canadian expert reveal about AI that caused widespread concern?

Exposed serious AI risks, shocking the tech world and affecting major company stocks.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?

What risks did Hinton associate with AI's rapid advancement?

**
- **AI’s Rapid Progress:** Hinton and other leading figures did not expect AI systems, like those developed by OpenAI (e.g., ChatGPT), to become so powerful so quickly.

Which AI system demonstrates the foundation laid by Hinton's pioneering research in deep learning and neural networks?

- **Existential Risks:** Hinton warns that if AI is not handled properly, it might eventually pose an “existential threat” to humanity.

What did Hinton, the renowned British-Canadian expert reveal about AI that caused widespread concern?

Exposed serious AI risks, shocking the tech world and affecting major company stocks.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?

What future risk did Hinton warn about AI?

What risks did the global summit report highlight about AI?

Creating malicious software for cyberattacks, potentially posing an existential threat if humans lose control.

While current AI is not yet as intelligent as humans, he believes it soon could be—and that we are not fully prepared for potential consequences.

What about AI makes regulation seen as premature, leading few countries to act despite global calls?

What did Sam Altman admit about ChatGPT and the potential risks of AI?

Advanced AI could pose an existential risk to humanity.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?

What future risk did Hinton warn about AI?

- **Social Harm:** AI could be used to spread misinformation or create fake realities on a mass scale, especially when combined with manipulation of social media.

Title:

Content: Presented By
Guido Mieth—Getty Images
Ideas
Otto Barten is director of the Existential Risk Observatory, a nonprofit aiming to reduce existential risk by informing the public debate.
Joep Meindertsma is founder of PauseAI, a movement campaigning for an AI Pause.

The existential risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) are now widely recognized.

After hundreds of industry and science leaders warned that “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the U.N. Secretary-General recently echoed their concern. So did the prime minister of the U.K., who is also investing 100 million pounds into AI safety research that is mostly meant to prevent existential risk. Other leaders are likely to follow in recognizing AI’s ultimate threat.

In the scientific field of existential risk, which studies the most likely causes of human extinction, AI is consistently ranked at the top of the list. In The Precipice, a book by Oxford existential risk researcher Toby Ord that aims to quantify human extinction risks, the likeliness of AI leading to human extinction exceeds that of climate change, pandemics, asteroid strikes, supervolcanoes, and nuclear war combined. One would expect that even for severe global problems, the risk that they lead to full human extinction is relatively small, and this is indeed true for most of the above risks. AI, however, may cause human extinction if only a few conditions are met. Among them is human-level AI, defined as an AI that can perform a broad range of cognitive tasks at least as well as we can. Studies outlining these ideas were previously known, but new AI breakthroughs have underlined their urgency: AI may be getting close to human level already.

Recursive self-improvement is one of the reasons why existential-risk academics think human-level AI is so dangerous. Because human-level AI could do almost all tasks at our level, and since doing AI research is one of those tasks, advanced AI should therefore be able to improve the state of AI. Constantly improving AI would create a positive feedback loop with no scientifically established limits: an intelligence explosion. The endpoint of this intelligence explosion could be a superintelligence: a godlike AI that outsmarts us the way humans often outsmart insects. We would be no match for it.

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A godlike, superintelligent AI

A superintelligent AI could therefore likely execute any goal it is given. Such a goal would be initially introduced by humans, but might come from a malicious actor, or not have been thought through carefully, or might get corrupted during training or deployment. If the resulting goal conflicts with what is in the best interest of humanity, a superintelligence would aim to execute it regardless. To do so, it could first hack large parts of the internet and then use any hardware connected to it. Or it could use its intelligence to construct narratives that are extremely convincing to us. Combined with hacked access to our social media timelines, it could create a fake reality on a massive scale. As Yuval Harari recently put it: “If we are not careful, we might be trapped behind a curtain of illusions, which we could not tear away—or even realise is there.” As a third option, after either legally making money or hacking our financial system, a superintelligence could simply pay us to perform any actions it needs from us. And these are just some of the strategies a superintelligent AI could use in order to achieve its goals. There are likely many more. Like playing chess against grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, we cannot predict the moves he will play, but we can predict the outcome: we lose.

But why would a superintelligence want to make humanity extinct? In fact, it might not explicitly want that at all. Humanity’s extinction might be a mere side effect of executing another goal to its extremity. When we are executing our own goals as humans, such as food production or growing our economy, we tend to not pay much attention to the effects this has on other species. This routinely leads to the extinction of animal species as a mere side effect of us maximising our goals. In a similar fashion, an uncontrollable superintelligence could lead to our extinction as a side effect of the AI pushing its goals, whatever they may be, to their limits.

Read More: The A to Z of Artificial Intelligence

So how can we avoid AI existential risk? Humanity now faces a stark choice: pause AI at a safe level, or continue development indefinitely. Unsurprisingly, the AI labs want the latter. To continue, however, means literally betting our lives on these labs being able to solve an open scientific problem called AI Alignment.

AI Alignment is the approach that leading labs such as OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic are currently taking to prevent human extinction. AI Alignment does not attempt to control how powerful an AI gets, does not attempt to control what exactly the AI will be doing, and does not even necessarily attempt to prevent a potential takeover from happening. Since the labs anticipate they will not be able to control the superintelligent AI that they are creating, they accept that such an AI will act autonomously and unstoppably, but aim to make it act according to our values. As Richard Ngo, a leading alignment researcher working at OpenAI, puts it, “I doubt we’ll be able to make every single deployment environment secure against the full intellectual powers of a superintelligent AGI.” There are large problems with their alignment approach, however, both fundamentally and technically.

What values should an AI have?

Fundamentally, there is of course no agreement on what values we have. What OpenAI founder Sam Altman wants a superintelligence to do may well be completely different from what, say, a textile worker in Bangladesh wants it to do. Aggregating human preferences has always been a thorny issue even before AI, but will get even more complicated when we have a superintelligence around that might be able to quickly, completely, and globally implement the wishes of a handful of CEOs. Democracy, however imperfect, has been the best solution we can find for value aggregation so far. It is, however, unclear whether our current combination of national political systems can control a godlike AI. In fact, it is unclear whether any organisation or system would be up to the task.

Beyond disagreement over current values, humans have historically not been very good at predicting the future externalities of new technologies. The climate crisis, for one, can be seen as an unforeseen outcome of technologies such as steam and internal combustion engines. Ever more powerful technology has the potential to create ever larger externalities. It is impossible to foresee what the negative side effects will be of actually implementing some interpretation of humanity’s current values. They might make climate change pale in comparison.

There are more unsolved fundamental issues with aligning a superintelligence, but currently, AI companies don’t even get that far. It seems that even making current large neural networks reliably do what anyone wants is a technical problem that we currently cannot solve. This is called inner misalignment and has been observed already in current AI: the model pursues the wrong goal when it is released into the real world after being trained on a limited dataset. For a superintelligence, this could have a catastrophic outcome. This problem is, according to OpenAI’s recent document Governance of Superintelligence, an “open research question.” But not to worry: they say they are “putting a lot of effort” into it.

Read More: The AI Arms Race is Changing Everything

Even if individuals such as Altman care about the existential threats of superintelligence, the current market dynamics of competing AI labs do not incentivize safety. The GPT-4 model built by OpenAI was tested and fine-tuned for seven months before being made public with a detailed report about its safety. Contrary to the safety efforts of OpenAI, a panicked Google released its competing PaLM 2 model just months later, without any mention of similar safety tests. Now even open-source models like Orca are performing at a ChatGPT level, without any safety analysis. The race is frantic, pushing these companies to take more risks to stay ahead. The scope of these risks is gigantic. As Jaan Tallinn, investor of the major AI lab Anthropic, puts it: “I’ve not met anyone in AI labs who says the risk [from training a next-generation model] is less than 1% of blowing up the planet”.

Let us be clear: continuing risky AI development, and eventually undergoing the intelligence explosion that leads to an uncontrollable superintelligence, is a terrible idea. We will not be able to navigate it safely. We lack the technical solutions, the coordination, the insight, the wisdom, and the experience to do something this complex right on the first try. As humans, we are good at solving problems with trial-and-error processes where we get lots of tries. But in the case of an intelligence explosion, we cannot use this strategy, since the first trial of uncontrolled superintelligence could be disastrous.

Why we should pause AI development

So what is the alternative? An AI Pause. This would mean that governments prohibit training any AI model with capabilities likely to exceed GPT-4. This can be determined by examining the amount of computation required for training, corrected over time for improvements in algorithmic efficiency. These leading models can only be trained at large AI companies or data centers, making the enforcement of such a pause realistic.

Since the leading labs are currently located in the U.S. and the U.K., implementing a pause at a national level in those two countries can be done on very short notice. In the medium term, the competitive dynamics between nations will require international legislation and collaboration, where an international AI agency would help. The U.K. is already planning to host an AI safety summit in autumn, which is a fitting moment to sign a treaty that implements an international AI Pause. Excluding important countries, especially China, from such a summit might not be wise, since they will be needed as well in the medium term. For the longer term, hardware regulation—such as making sure new consumer hardware cannot be used for large-scale AI training, while closely monitoring all hardware that can be—is a promising option to practically enforce a pause. Research into this topic needs to be scaled up rapidly to arrive at robust and implementable solutions.

Further AI development may continue only after regulating authorities are convinced that training and deploying a certain AI model will not risk an uncontrolled intelligence explosion or a takeover scenario. Second-order effects, such as making hard-to-control open-source development easier, should be taken into account in such decisions.

Read More: What to Know About Claude 2, Anthropic’s Rival to ChatGPT

Continuing beyond the red line, and thus risking an intelligence explosion or a takeover, should only be allowed after meeting the strictest of requirements. First of all, the technical alignment problem should be decisively solved. Other major issues, such as aggregating humanity’s different value systems, limiting unforeseen externalities, and many more, will also need to be addressed.

A pause may be seen by some as unrealistic. They might say that we cannot stop technological progress for a speculative scenario, that market forces are too strong to counter, or that opposing countries can never coordinate. But bear in mind that as a society, we have barely begun to let the truth sink in: we are risking human extinction here. AI existential risk is still not taken as seriously as it should be. But that is changing. Leading AI academics, such as ‘fathers of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, have sounded public warnings about AI’s existential risk, because they saw the technology getting more capable. This process is unlikely to stop: AI’s capabilities will grow further, and this will lead to more and more debate leaders sounding the alarm bells. When the full weight of our situation sinks in, measures that may appear unrealistic at present, could rapidly gain support.

As humanity, we will realise the situation that we are in. We will come together, and we will find a solution, as we always have. And, sooner than we think, we will implement an AI Pause.

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EDIT POST

What did Hinton, the renowned British-Canadian expert reveal about AI that caused widespread concern?

Exposed serious AI risks, shocking the tech world and affecting major company stocks.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?

What risks did Hinton associate with AI's rapid advancement?

- **Economic Impact:** Hinton has mentioned that AI could increase inequality and social unrest if job displacement leads to a bigger gap between rich and poor.

What risks did Hinton associate with AI's rapid advancement?

**How have other experts responded?

**
- **Mixed Views:** Some experts, like Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, argue that AI possessing human-like desires to dominate isn’t likely, suggesting fears may be overstated.

What about AI makes regulation seen as premature, leading few countries to act despite global calls?

What does AI expert, Yann LeCun, say about doomsday warnings regarding AI?

- **Calls for Regulation:** Policymakers and international bodies, including the U.N., are increasingly urging better guardrails and regulation to manage AI risks.

What does Hinton warn could happen to AI if companies and regulators fail to implement effective rules and controls?


- **Digital Nomad Lifestyle:** Involves working remotely and living in different countries for extended periods, blending professional activity with exploring new cultures.

The focus is on experiencing life in new places and integrating, rather than just being a tourist.

- **Visas & Legal Requirements:** Many countries now offer specific visas for digital nomads.

Examples include Germany’s residence permit for freelancers/self-employed, Norway’s independent contractor visa, and similar initiatives in Asian Pacific (APAC) countries and the UAE.

These usually have requirements like minimum income (e.g., $24,000/year in some cases), proof of remote/IT work, and contracts with clients.

Application procedures and durations (e.g., 6 months+ stays) vary.

- **Types of Work Suited:** Best fit for highly portable careers—IT, graphic design, writing, product/design roles, and some trade jobs.

Fully remote jobs are the easiest, but contract or short-term positions abroad are also viable.

Continuous movement is easier if your work doesn’t require physical presence or a high degree of synchronous collaboration.

- **Advantages:**
  - Access to global opportunities and potentially higher salaries.

- Personal growth from exposure to new cultures.

- Flexible work arrangements.

- Can optimize for lifestyle—beach towns, urban centers, etc.

- **Challenges & Hidden Disadvantages:**
  - Work/life balance can suffer due to distraction from constant travel & new surroundings.

- Time management and self-discipline become crucial (set routines, avoid burnout).

- Legal/visa and tax compliance can be complex; requirements differ by country.

- Building a sense of home and social network can be difficult due to frequent moves.

- Potential isolation or loneliness if moving too much without establishing roots.

- Not all work types are compatible—some require stable internet, time zones, or in-person presence that limit flexibility.

- Communication (Slack, Zoom, Teams).

- **Digital Nomad Lifestyle:** Involves working remotely and living in different countries for extended periods, blending professional activity with exploring new cultures.

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Content:   • Your one stop for college news and resources!
Featured, Features, Study Abroad

A Guide for College Students Embracing the Digital Nomad Lifestyle

A digital nomad is someone who works remotely and travels often. Their work doesn’t require them to report to an office or adhere to a strict schedule. Instead, they can work anywhere in the world, doing the job they love.

It’s no wonder this lifestyle is appealing more to college students. They can travel the world while studying and working abroad. That said, being a college student and a digital nomad is a challenge. It’s not like a vacation where all you have to worry about is enjoying yourself.

You have to learn how to balance the fun of traveling with work and school commitments. The following tips will help you do just that.

Understand What the Digital Nomad Lifestyle Will Be Like

You have to understand what the digital nomad lifestyle will be like if you want it to work out. You can assess whether this life is for you, and better prepare for it if you decide that it is.

Here are some critical points to consider about the digital nomad lifestyle:

  • A work-life balance is a must
  • Traveling often can be exhausting
  • You must ensure access to healthcare
  • You need a plan for financial stability
  • You’ll have to adapt to new cultures and languages
  • Knowing visa requirements and other legal requirements is essential
  • You might experience homesickness, especially if you go international
  • Balancing school with work and life in a new place is a big commitment

Dig into these factors and research all you’ll have to do and give up to be a digital nomad. Then, you can make an informed decision about moving forward.

Master Time Management

You’ll have to take your time management up a few notches if you want to be a digital nomad.

It’s one thing to balance life and school. It’s another to balance life, school, traveling, and potentially, work. You must learn how to divide your days so that you pay each of these things the attention they need. In addition, time management will ensure you don’t burn out.

Start with a routine to build some consistency into your days. Wake up at the same time regardless of your schedule and get ready for your days the same way.

You can establish priority tasks the night before, like your classes, if you’re working, and when you’ll study. Set aside time for breaks, meals, and leisure time as well. Building these activities into your schedule will ensure you actually do them.

Attach times to each task and activity. For example, you have classes from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Next, you’ll have lunch from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. After that, you have work from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Then, you’ll study from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and the rest of the night is yours.

Manage your time wisely and you can achieve everything you set out for each day.

Learn How to Stay Productive

One of the biggest challenges digital nomads run into is staying productive. All of the fun activities you can do when you travel to a new place can be distracting. It might be hard to stay motivated when you’re homesick. Technical and logistical issues can impact your productivity as well.

So, learning how to maintain peak productivity while studying and working on the road is essential.

Adhering to the routine we mentioned above will help keep you focused. Eliminate distractions while working by turning your phone on Do Not Disturb and muting social media apps. Create a designated workspace. You could also incentivize productivity by promising yourself a fun activity after you complete your work.

Secure your tech setup as well to maintain optimal productivity. Make sure you have the basics, like a good laptop set up with the proper work and school software and noise-canceling headphones.

Another crucial tool to have is a mobile hotspot. A hotspot ensures you can connect to the internet wirelessly on your mobile devices from virtually anywhere. This will come in handy when you travel internationally or to places with spotty internet connections. No matter where you are, you can still access your studies and any work you’re doing online.

Equip yourself with the right tools and techniques to stay productive as a digital nomad.

Choose Work That Aligns With Your Studies and Interests

Digital nomads are known to take many different directions with their work. You have options and can easily make a living while studying and traveling abroad. The key is ensuring the work you do doesn’t distract from your education and pull you away from who you are.

You’ll have a much better experience as a digital nomad if you choose work that aligns with your studies and interests. Rather than taking the barista job at the local cafe, work with your school to see if there are any work-study opportunities where you’re traveling.

You can also take the job search into your own hands. Search for job openings before you head to your destination through online job boards. Ask for referrals from fellow students.

Consider fully remote positions as well. There are many work-from-home jobs available that can accommodate a college student’s digital nomad lifestyle, such as being a tutor or a content writer for subjects related to your major.

Whatever work you decide to do, make sure it doesn’t take away from your studies and aligns with who you are and what you want to be.

Conclusion

Many college students are attracted to the digital nomad lifestyle because it allows them to travel freely while studying and working where they want to. As enticing as this life is, being a digital nomad isn’t void of challenges.

Make sure you understand what you’re getting into, master time management, learn to stay productive, and choose work that aligns with your studies and interests to give yourself a real chance at a successful digital nomad life.

SEE ALSO: How to Choose the Right Student Housing in the U.S.

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What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Adaptablity to new cultures and language

The focus is on experiencing life in new places and integrating, rather than just being a tourist.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Adaptablity to new cultures and language

- **Visas & Legal Requirements:** Many countries now offer specific visas for digital nomads.

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Digital nomads promised lush forests, natural spas and a new co-working space in this German town

Baden-Baden has a 100-acre forest and a car-free city centre.   -   Copyright  Baden-Baden Kur & Tourismus GmbH
By Hayley Rogue Ashworth

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that a lot of jobs do not need to conform to the standard Monday-Friday, 9-5.

There has been a shift in the way we view our working lives. We are no longer satisfied with spending our days confined to office cubicles, counting down the days to our next holiday.

Instead, we are looking for that ideal work-life balance - for more control over our time and more enriching experiences. Add to that the current cost-of-living crisis sweeping across Europe, Brexit and the rising price of weekend travel, and it’s easy to see the appeal of the digital nomad lifestyle.

But with the whole world to choose from, and several countries like Costa Rica and Bali offering digital nomad visas, where to start?

As travel companies weigh in on the best places to start your expat life, an unassuming spa town in southwestern Germany is throwing its hat in the ring.

Is Baden-Baden poised to be the next big digital nomad destination?

Baden-Baden is preparing for the opening of its first dedicated coworking space, Opera Coworking. There are many ways this UNESCO World heritage town would make a great digital nomad destination.

Once known as the ‘summer capital of Europe’, Baden-Baden was the playground of 19th-century Monaco socialites. Located close to the French border in Germany’s Black Forest, it was a favourite escape when the South of France got too hot.

With a population of around 55,000, it’s quiet yet cosmopolitan, green, accessible and has a lot to offer in terms of work-life balance. It has its own airport serviced by most major European airlines, as well as train lines that connect you to the rest of Germany, Europe and beyond.

Calm your mind in green forests and natural spas

Baden-Baden proclaims to be the ‘city of the good-good life’, and it isn’t difficult to see why.

The region is 61 per cent forest, with the Lichtentaler Allee spanning almost 100 acres. This green oasis is home to over 300 species of trees and shrubs, and part of it runs through the car-free city centre. Here, outdoor enthusiasts can wind down with hiking, cycling, running, roller-blading and walking.

As well as shaking off any work frustrations, all those extra activities will help improve your mental and physical health.

For more wellness activities, there are several natural spas - in particular, the Friedrichsbad. At €32 for three hours, it has 17 coordinated bathing stations to follow, from warm air baths to thermal whirlpools.

Now, we’re not saying to spend all your time in the spa. But having time and freedom to properly unwind is one of the many benefits of becoming a digital nomad.

There are also six championship golf courses, various sporting and music events throughout the year, and a variety of museums and galleries.

Excellent train routes to the rest of Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France make weekend getaways, fun day-excursions and work trips easy.

How to become a digital nomad in Germany

There are several visa options for digital nomads in Germany, which vary depending on how long you plan to stay there.

Those with an EU, EEA or Swiss passport can enter Germany for 90 days as a tourist. While you don’t need a visa or permit to work in Germany, you must register stays that are longer than three months with the local authorities.

Those in Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the UK and the USA can apply for a residency permit without an entry visa.

Most other nationalities will need to apply for a visa from a German Embassy and a residence permit for self-employment. This requires proof of self-sustainability and a business plan.

In Germany, freelancers and self-employed are considered to be two different statuses. For tax purposes, it is best to be a freelancer, though freelance roles must fall under certain liberal professions specified by the government, such as art, engineering, legal, medical, science and teaching, among others.

Once in Germany, all digital nomads have two weeks to submit their German addresses and book an appointment with the Immigration Office to begin the residency process.

See you in Baden-Baden?

If your goal is to make as much money as possible for early retirement, then Baden-Baden may not be for you, as you will have to register as a resident and pay tax.

But if your digital nomad goal is more about creating a life full of balance, this German town could be your dream destination.

The clean air and greenery will soothe your soul, there are lots of activities to fill your downtime - and restaurants to fill your stomach.

Add to that easy access to other destinations and an excellent healthcare and social system, and Baden-Baden is well worth considering as the place to start your digital nomad journey.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Knowledge of visa and other legal requirements

What are the criteria of the top 20 digital nomad locations?

A digital nomad visa program or the equivalent

Examples include Germany’s residence permit for freelancers/self-employed, Norway’s independent contractor visa, and similar initiatives in Asian Pacific (APAC) countries and the UAE.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Knowledge of visa and other legal requirements

What are the criteria of the top 20 digital nomad locations?

A digital nomad visa program or the equivalent

These usually have requirements like minimum income (e.g., $24,000/year in some cases), proof of remote/IT work, and contracts with clients.

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Working in Norway For Members

Is Norway's independent contractor visa a good fit for digital nomads?

Robin-Ivan Capar - [email protected]

Digital nomads have been showing an increased interest in Norway in recent years. But what are the visa options best suited to working remotely from Norway, and is the independent contractor visa an option?

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The digital nomad lifestyle offers modern professionals the opportunity to visit different countries while maintaining a steady line of income.

With its pristine nature, fascinating fjords, and rugged wilderness, Norway has started attracting more and more interest among the digital nomad community in recent years.

But what are the best visa options for digital nomads in a country that is known for making remote work difficult?

Most international professionals often point to two visas: the Svalbard digital nomad visa and the independent contractor visa.

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The digital nomad visa – limited to Svalbard

You should know that Norway does have a digital nomad visa in place. Unfortunately, the program is limited to the Svalbard archipelago – situated in the Arctic Ocean, between mainland Norway and the North Pole.

The current digital nomad scheme allows foreign citizens who meet set criteria to establish themselves on Svalbard Island and carry out their business from there.

However, as legal experts at LawyersNorway.eu point out, if you successfully establish yourself there, you will be able to move to other parts of Norway later on.

If moving to Svalbard is not a deal-breaker for you, keep in mind that you'll also need to fulfil the following requirements:

  • You'll need to have a valid passport;
  • You'll need to submit the digital nomad visa application form.
  • Authorities will ask you to provide documentation that proves that you're self-employed or working for a non-Norwegian company, as well as documentation related to your education and vocational qualifications;
  • You will also be required to prove that you can sustain yourself in Norway and have a minimum gross income of around 360,000 kroner annually (expect the authorities to request bank statements);
  • You'll need to have valid health insurance;
  • You'll also need to provide Norwegian authorities with a contract with at least one Norwegian client, which must explicate that your minimum salary as a skilled employee is at least 189,39 kroner per hour;
  • You'll need to show proof of having accommodation in Svalbard.

Note that there is also a processing fee for the digital nomad visa, which is set at around 6,000 kroner.

If, on the other hand, you're not that keen to move to Svalbard, the independent contractor visa might be a better fit.

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The independent contractor visa

Norway's independent contractor visa is intended for non-European Union citizens, and it's somewhat similar to the Svalbard visa for digital nomads.

Some people tend to recommend it to self-employed professionals who plan to stay in Norway for at least a couple of years.

To be exact, the independent contractor visa is a residence permit issued to eligible remote workers, giving them the right to work remotely in Norway for two years.

You can be granted this permit for two years at a time, and you can have this permit for up to six years. The idea behind this visa was to attract international professionals to move to Norway.

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Digital nomads looking to take advantage of this opportunity need to meet multiple requirements. The trickiest one is that they need to have at least one corporate client based in Norway to apply (as is the case with the Svalbard digital nomad visa - notice the pattern?).

In order to qualify for the Norwegian independent contractor visa, you'll need to meet the following requirements:

  • Required education/qualification level: The full list of requirements relating to education or special qualifications can be found on the website of the Norwegian Immigration Directorate (UDI) here.
  • At least one Norwegian client: You will need at least one Norwegian corporate client to be eligible for this type of visa. Expect the authorities to require a contract with the client as proof.
  • A valid passport and an address in Norway: First off, you need to have a valid passport. You also need to have your accommodation in Norway taken care of, as you'll be asked to provide an address. You'll likely need to provide a tenancy contract as proof.
  • Proof of self-employment and proof of income: You will be asked to provide proof of business establishment and activity outside of Norway, and the authorities will also verify whether your income allows you to move to and live in Norway.

Note that the minimum annual income you'll need is around 360,000 kroner, and you'll be required to provide bank slips or statements to prove you earn that income each year.

You can apply for the independent contractor visa through the UDI's wizard here. The visa processing fees are listed here.

In conclusion, is the independent contractor visa a good fit for digital nomads? If you plan to stay in Norway for at least two years, then the answer is likely yes.

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Digital nomads, pay attention! If you plan to carry out work assignments different than those described in the contract you presented to the authorities, or if you plan to work for another company, you will need to apply for a new residence permit.

To get more information on the rights and obligations related to the independent contractor visa, consult the UDI's website here.

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See Also

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Knowledge of visa and other legal requirements

Application procedures and durations (e.g., 6 months+ stays) vary.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Knowledge of visa and other legal requirements

- **Types of Work Suited:** Best fit for highly portable careers—IT, graphic design, writing, product/design roles, and some trade jobs.

Title:

Content: 15 Jobs that Allow You to Travel

Written by Coursera • Updated on

Explore the exciting career possibilities that let you travel while earning an income.

If you have been dreaming of exploring a new city and tasting food from different cultures, you’re not alone. The ongoing pandemic brought travel to a halt for a time, leaving many of us yearning for an escape.

A study conducted by researchers from Washington State University found that those who traveled multiple times a year at least 75 miles from home were 7 percent happier than those who did not [1]. Incorporating travel into your life can be beneficial for your career as it can foster empathy, creativity, adaptability, and resiliency—invaluable skills in any workplace.

In this article, we’ll cover the different types of jobs that are both in-demand and may offer the flexibility to allow for more travel.

Types of jobs that allow you to travel

There are plenty of opportunities to incorporate travel into your career. You might not be ready to take the leap of quitting your job to become a dive instructor in Fiji, but perhaps you want to work remotely to explore a few different locations. Others might be opting for a career that allows for occasional travel, to conduct research or to execute an event.

Here are the different types of jobs that can be conducive to travel:

  • Fully remote jobs

  • Trade jobs that allow continual or frequent travel

  • Jobs that offer long breaks or sabbatical leave

  • Jobs based in a foreign country

*All salary and job outlook data represents median salaries in the United States and is sourced from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (January 2022), unless otherwise stated

Fully remote jobs

The COVID-19 pandemic has helped make remote work the new norm, especially among “knowledge workers.” Having the freedom to work remotely means you may be able to work just about anywhere with an internet connection. This may require you to be extra vigilant of time zones so you don’t schedule meetings with your clients or colleagues at odd hours. Remote jobs can be an excellent way to stay employed while traveling.

Read more: 10 Remote Work-From-Home Jobs that Pay Well

1. Web/graphic designer

Like many others on this list, plenty of web and graphic designers today are becoming digital nomads, meaning they are location-independent. Whether you’re a freelancer with your own clients or working under a fixed contract with a company, design work can typically be done anywhere with a good internet connection.

  • Median salary: $77,200

  • Job outlook: 13 percent (faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

Read more: What does a graphic designer do?

2. Software developer

This in-demand career is a great option for analytical, detail-oriented individuals with a background in computer science or information technology. Software developers write code to create or update computer applications and programs, work that can often be done remotely.

  • Median salary: $110,140

  • Job outlook: 22 percent (much faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

3. Cybersecurity analyst

As a cybersecurity analyst, you are responsible for executing security measures to protect a company’s computer systems. Like web-based designers and engineers, this work can be done remotely. Take advantage of this by working from home and taking short trips, or switching up your location every few months.

  • Median salary: $103,590

  • Job outlook: 33 percent (much faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

Read more: 10 Popular Cybersecurity Certifications

4. Writer

As a writer, you have the opportunity to work from anywhere. Your salary can vary depending on whether you are a content or SEO writer, copywriter, grant writer, academic researcher, journalist, or novelist. Since writing tends to be done on a computer, you can typically continue working while you travel.

  • Median salary: $67,120

  • Job outlook: 9 percent (as fast as average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

Trade jobs that allow for frequent travel

Some trade jobs enable you to continually be on the move or to be assigned to a location for a few months at a time. Some of these jobs require only a high school diploma plus training. If you crave continuous movement and change, then these may be a good fit for you.

5. Flight attendant

As a flight attendant, you can travel to many cities around the world in addition to receiving flight benefits for you and your family. To become a flight attendant, you must be physically fit to stand for long periods of time and help passengers with luggage, have experience with customer service, and be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Flight attendants often start with domestic flights before moving on to desirable international routes.

  • Median salary: $59,050

  • Job outlook: 30 percent (much faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: High school diploma or equivalent and FAA certification

6. Travel nurse

Travel nurses are employed by a nursing staffing agency instead of a hospital, which means you can travel domestically or internationally to a new location when hospitals need temporary nurses. To become a travel nurse, you need to be a licensed and registered nurse with at least a year of experience working in acute care. Salary depends on location and demand. During COVID-19, for example, travel nurse pay increased to over $10,000 per week.

  • Median salary: $75,330 (registered nurse)

  • Job outlook: 9 percent (as fast as average)

  • Entry-level education: Associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing, plus licensure exam

7. Pilot

A huge perk of becoming a pilot is being able to travel to different destinations. Depending on the airline, pilots tend to have a minimum of 12 to 15 days off per month, called “reserve days,” that are often spent in hotels far from home. Becoming a commercial pilot requires a license from the FAA. Pilots tend to start out flying charter flights and tours before they can fly customers on domestic and international routes.

  • Median salary: $130,440

  • Job outlook: 13 percent (faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

8. Yoga or sports instructor

This is perhaps one of the most exciting jobs with flexible hours and travel potential. Teaching yoga, sports, or recreational activities like diving, skiing, ziplining, surfing, or soccer can be a fun way to live in a new place. These jobs tend to be popular in tourist destinations—think living in the mountains or dreamy beach locale while earning an income.

  • Median salary: $40,510

  • Job outlook: 39% (much faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: High school diploma or equivalent, plus yoga teacher training or other sports certification

Jobs that allow you to take long breaks

These jobs operate either on a school timeline or a project basis, allowing for weeks or months of free time. Pursue one of these jobs, and use that extra free time for travel.

9. Professor

Becoming a professor usually requires a PhD, making this job a good fit for someone already pursuing a graduate or doctoral degree. Professors often get summer and winter breaks during which they may attend conferences, plan classes, prepare budgets, or go on vacation. Sabbaticals are typically six months and are available every seventh year, unless the university’s policies allow otherwise. This time can be used toward conducting fieldwork abroad (researching sea turtles in Costa Rica or archival studies in Egypt, for example), writing a book, or developing new programs and pedagogies.

  • Median salary: $80,560

  • Job outlook: 12 percent (faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Usually a PhD, but sometimes a master’s degree is enough for community colleges

10. K-12 teacher

As a K-12 teacher, your summer breaks provide a relief from 180 days of teaching. During the school year, teachers spend a lot of extra time planning classes, grading papers and exams, and developing fun activities for students. When summer rolls around, take advantage of the extended break to travel.

  • Median salary: $62,870 (high school teacher)

  • Job outlook: 8 percent (as fast average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree, plus state-issued certification or license

11. Management consultant

Management consultants take on projects with companies where they lead strategy and business analysis to improve efficiency. For some consultants, this requires traveling up to four days a week (Monday to Thursday) or being based in a new location for months at a time.

Management consulting is notoriously competitive because it is considered prestigious, well-paid, and good training for entrepreneurship, at the cost of long hours. If you don’t mind a bit of grind while you explore a new city or location, this might be a good career choice for you.

Further, there is a growing trend of companies providing benefits such as flexible paid leave and sabbaticals.

  • Median salary: $87,660

  • Job outlook: 14 percent (faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

Jobs based in a foreign country

These jobs allow you to live abroad for months or years. Often, these jobs require you to teach, research, or work collaboratively with the local community. If you are excited about a purposeful career advocating for a social issue or an adventurous job reporting news on global politics and the economy, then this might be a satisfying career option.

12. Non-governmental organization (NGO) worker

As an NGO worker, you may be in charge of implementing programs in countries with developing or emerging markets, usually addressing social or political issues such as poverty, hunger, disaster relief, environment, or peace and security. You might be in charge of communications, partnerships, or fundraising. The exciting part is that you get to live in the country for an extended time, fully immersed in the local culture. It can be a life-changing and rewarding experience.

  • Median salary: $69,600 (social and community service managers)

  • Job outlook: 15 percent (faster than average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

13. English teacher

Teaching English can be a fulfilling way to spend a year living in a foreign country. Outside of the classroom, enjoy sightseeing, attending local festivals, eating street food, and embarking on adventures with new friends. Typically, a TESOL or TEFL certification is required.

There are many teaching exchange programs, such as Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET), English Program in Korea (EPIK), and the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) that hire young adults to teach English abroad. Other similar reputable programs include the British Council and Council on International English Exchange. Another option is to teach subjects like history, literature, science, art, or math at international schools, which tend to be located in cities globally.

  • Median salary:  $50,953 (average salary from Glassdoor)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

14. Foreign correspondent

If you are trained as a journalist or photojournalist, you may be interested in taking your career abroad. There is a great need for reporting on the political and economic situation in other countries. As a journalist based overseas, you have the opportunity to interview and interact with locals on a daily basis to understand what’s really happening on the ground, while enjoying an unconventional and exciting lifestyle.

  • Median salary: $49,300 (news analysts, reporters, and journalists)

  • Job outlook: 6 percent (as fast as average)

  • Entry-level education: Bachelor’s degree

15. Anthropologist

Conducting fieldwork and ethnographic research is a significant part of studying the development and behavior of humans and their environment. Fieldwork for research organizations, government agencies, consulting firms, and universities often requires traveling for extended periods. While some anthropologists today are beginning to study local cities and towns to create sustainable social change, many conduct participant observation in foreign contexts for an unbiased perspective.

  • Median salary: $66,130

  • Job outlook: 7 percent (as fast as average)

  • Requirements: Master’s degree or PhD

Tips for transitioning into a travel-friendly job

Traveling more does not necessarily mean losing your place in your career. These options offer opportunities for you to continue working while satiating your desire for new adventures.

When considering whether to switch careers or plan ahead for a future role, it is important to understand whether you want to travel with your work or simply have a job that offers more vacation time to travel for pleasure. Here are some tips to help you decide what feels right:

  • Start small. If you are considering a remote job or living in another country for an extended amount of time, perhaps you can visit that country first on vacation before committing to a year. Or, take a weekend trip nearby to know whether you seek an urban or rural outdoorsy lifestyle.

  • Understand what type of job works best for you. Consider your lifestyle and family needs, and figure out what your transferable skills are.

  • Don’t quit your day job right away. If you are hoping to transition into a remote career, such as graphic design or writing, start by taking classes to brush up on your skills or creating a portfolio in your spare time.

  • Take the leap. Once you have decided on a financially responsible plan, pushing your comfort zone can be scary. But oftentimes, a calculated risk can reap positive rewards. Try to adopt a growth mindset. It may be a tough adjustment moving to a new city or country, but trust that you can make it work.

Next steps

Start building the skills you need for an in-demand, remote-friendly job with a Professional Certificate in user experience (UX) design, cybersecurity, social media marketing, or teaching English as a second language (TESOL). Learn from industry leaders at your own pace, and earn a credential for your resume.

Related articles

Article sources

1. Tourism Analysis. “Would You Be More Satisfied with Your Life If You Travel More Frequently?, https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ta/2021/00000026/00000001/art00006;jsessionid=1djuiwphlb0fg.x-ic-live-03.” Accessed February 10, 2022.

Written by Coursera • Updated on

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

Learn without limits

What profession was targeted by Kyrgyzstan's August 2022 program to work in the country?

Fully remote jobs are the easiest, but contract or short-term positions abroad are also viable.

Continuous movement is easier if your work doesn’t require physical presence or a high degree of synchronous collaboration.

- **Advantages:**
  - Access to global opportunities and potentially higher salaries.

- Personal growth from exposure to new cultures.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Adaptablity to new cultures and language

- Flexible work arrangements.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

- Can optimize for lifestyle—beach towns, urban centers, etc.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

What are the criteria of the top 20 digital nomad locations?

- **Challenges & Hidden Disadvantages:**
  - Work/life balance can suffer due to distraction from constant travel & new surroundings.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

- Time management and self-discipline become crucial (set routines, avoid burnout).

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

- Legal/visa and tax compliance can be complex; requirements differ by country.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

Knowledge of visa and other legal requirements

- Building a sense of home and social network can be difficult due to frequent moves.

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

What makes some parents hesitant about remote work abroad?

Children's wellbeing
Leaving friends behind

- Potential isolation or loneliness if moving too much without establishing roots.

Title:

Content: Here’s How You Can Do Good As A Digital Nomad

by Femina Travel | Sep 29, 2023, 20:38 IST

Being a digital nomad can be great for the remote worker but, with the right attitude, you can do good for others too

Not everyone loves digital nomads. Although so many countries across the world now offer special visas for digital nomads (Dubai, Colombia,  Estonia, Bermuda, Portugal, Spain, Croatia and Cayman Islands, to name just a few), they often get a bad rap from local residents. They believe that digital nomads push housing costs higher and out of reach of the locals, and strain the community by just ‘dropping’ into places rather than trying to fit into the fabric of society at their new temporary homes. It is an undeniable fact, however, that foreign workers can infuse a financial boost into the arm of the host country, and it works out well for them because living costs are usually lower than in their home country.

How can digital nomads do good rather than spark suspicion in their new home areas? Here are simple ways to consider if you want your impact to be positive, and your being there actually being good for the local community:

  • Spend Money To Benefit Local Businesses

Prioritise shopping in smaller local shops rather than at big supermarkets, eat in non-touristy restaurants alongside locals, and tip delivery and cleaning people generously.

  • Engage In An Intellectual Exchange

If you have transferable skills as part of your job description, it would be great to help locals in whatever capacity you can. A healthy exchange of ideas can spur local entrepreneurship and potentially improve the lives of the people amid whom you live.

  • Volunteer In Your Free Time

There’s no better way to get under the skin of a new destination – here, your new home for a period of time – than by offering the help you can. Perhaps you could offer to help local kids with spoken English, or give some time to a nearby soup kitchen.

  • Be Social

Don’t spend all your time working in your home. The point of working away from home is that you live in another place. Go out and immerse yourself in life outside; once your neighbours and people in the locality realise that you’re friendly, they, too, will get more used to you and less resentful of your presence in their midst. Keeping to yourself is an invitation to be isolated. Don’t let your reticence be misinterpreted as arrogance. Embrace your new temporary home country and, in time,  you will go a long way in overturning suspicions against digital nomads.

Images: Shutterstock

Also Read: The Definitive Guide To Choosing A Hostel For Your Next Trip

Next Story

What are critical aspects of the digital nomad lifestyle?

What makes some parents hesitant about remote work abroad?

- Not all work types are compatible—some require stable internet, time zones, or in-person presence that limit flexibility.

- Communication (Slack, Zoom, Teams).

Title:

Content: Spain: Number one for remote-working Brits

Digital nomad on the beach. Credit: simona pilolla 2/Shutterstock.com

According to Nebeus’ 2023 study on remote work trends, Spain emerges as the top dream destination for UK professionals seeking a better quality of life.

With 46 per cent of British professionals considering relocating for remote work, the survey sheds light on this trend.

Remote work growing in UK

In 2023, 44 per cent of British people embraced remote work, a trend echoed globally. Not only does it trim down commuting expenses, but it also opens doors to work from new countries.

Nebeus conducted a survey of 400 UK professionals, exploring their attitudes towards remote work abroad, with a focus on financial aspects.

Spain leads the way

For UK nationals seeking relocation for a better quality of life, one country stands out as the preferred destination for remote work, with 22 per cent choosing Spain as their first option

The United States received 19 per cent of the votes and France in third place with 13 per cent. The report revealed the other placings: Portugal, 6 per cent; Southeast Asia 5 per cent and Latin America, 3 per cent.

Spain’s allure lies in its blend of tradition and modernity, warm ambiance, and relaxed lifestyle. According to the survey’s findings, the most popular Spanish regions among UK remote workers are Barcelona, 14 per cent; Valencia, 7 per cent and Madrid, 5 per cent.

Unveiling the Digital Nomad Visa

Surprisingly, 89 per cent of respondents are unaware of Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa, designed to enable remote work without changing jobs.

This lack of awareness highlights the need for better promotion of this visa, offering flexibility while enjoying Spain’s benefits and retaining UK employment.

Concerns and considerations

When contemplating a move to Spain, respondents expressed their concerns about healthcare costs, language difficulties, and the cost of living and leaving loved ones behind.

Fifty-three per cent of those who participated stated language difficulties to be their primary concern. This was a particular worry for those in Scotland and the East of England both at 62 per cent and Yorkshire, 58 per cent.

Regarding finances, 51 per cent believe their spending power would match or exceed that in the UK. Londoners, in particular, expect a higher spending power in Spain, with the cost of living in mind.

Interestingly, higher-income individuals are less inclined to move abroad, possibly due to tax considerations or job seniority. Those with mid-range salaries are the most willing to relocate for remote work.

Parents are more hesitant to work remotely abroad, concerned about their children’s wellbeing, schooling, and leaving friends behind. Non-parents are more open to the idea.

Nebeus’ survey reflects a growing interest in remote work abroad among UK professionals, emphasising the need for accurate information about digital work visas and addressing linguistic, financial, and cultural challenges.

As the working landscape evolves, remote work is becoming an increasingly viable option, reshaping careers and lifestyles.

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