This is a 5-day intensive writing course where you’ll transform your AI safety course learnings into a published article.

You’ll go from having no ideas (or only a few ideas) of what to write about, to publishing a piece you’re proud of.

Writing is a great way to learn new things, clarify your thoughts on complex or contentious topics, and demonstrate your expertise and work with potential employers or collaborators. 

We’ll accept applications on a rolling basis and have 20 spots available for each round.

Why do the course

Writing is one of the best ways to learn. Explaining something to someone else (or yourself) is a great technique to discover what you do and don’t understand. It also improves your memory on important topics and helps you develop your opinion on concepts you’ve learned from the AI safety courses.

We make writing easy for you. We’ve designed an experience that provides everything you need to go from having no ideas to publishing your thinking online. Our product manager has written a whole book and still found this experience valuable!

You’ll receive accountability and feedback from your peers. The group meets regularly, providing you with accountability to move forward with your writing and to follow the guidelines set out in the course. In previous courses, some of these groups have continued meeting for years afterwards! So this is also a great opportunity to make new friends and find writing collaborators.

Who this course is for

We think this course will particularly be able to help you if:

• You’ve completed at least one of BlueDot’s AI safety courses and want to solidify your understanding
• You’ve struggled to explain key AI safety concepts to others
• You want to contribute to making AI safety concepts more accessible
• You’re looking to build your portfolio for AI safety work

Not sure if you’re the right fit? We encourage you to apply! We take a holistic approach to evaluating applications and value diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

Course Structure

This course runs for 5 consecutive days, with curated readings and facilitated discussions. The time commitment for the week is around 15 hours, so you can engage with the course alongside full-time work or study.

Each unit involves 2 hours of independent learning, plus a 1.5-hour facilitated group discussion (via video call, which we’ll arrange at a time that suits you). We’ll work through this curriculum, and by the end of the course, you will have published an article on something you learned during the AI safety course. You’ll also receive feedback from an AI safety expert on your article, if you submit it by the deadline.

The facilitated group discussions are where you workshop and get feedback on your article with your group of around 5 other participants. These group discussions are facilitated by an experienced writer, who can answer questions and give feedback.

If accepted onto the course, we’ll ask for your availability so we can find a time slot that suits you (including evening discussions). There’s flexibility to change discussion time in case your availability changes.

Dates

The course runs from Monday to Friday. We will close applications on the Thursday before the course starts and make application decisions by the Friday before the course starts.

We will likely run more rounds of the course, but for now, these are the confirmed dates.

Application process

Apply through our online application form, and you should receive an email confirmation a few minutes after you send your application.

We’ll accept applications on a rolling basis and have 20 spots available.

We will make application decisions by the Friday before the course starts. Do keep an eye on your emails during this time, as if accepted we’ll need you to confirm your place. All legitimate emails regarding the course will come from @bluedot.org.

If you have any questions about applying for the course, do contact us.

Requirements

• 15 hours of availability during the week to engage with the course
• A reliable internet connection and webcam (built-in is fine) to join video calls
• English language skills sufficient to constructively engage in live group discussions

Optional payment

There is no mandatory payment for this course. If you would like to, you will have the option at the end of the course to pay an amount that you are comfortable with and that you feel reflects the value that the course has brought to you.

BlueDot Impact Ltd, the organisation that runs this course, is a non-profit based in the UK and is entirely philanthropically funded. This course costs us roughly £600 per participant to run, and any payment you make would be used to subsidise places for future participants on our courses.

Any other questions?

If you’re not sure whether to apply, we recommend that you put in an application. If you have any other questions do contact us!

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