Prometheus Science Bowl Inc

PROMETHEUS AIMS TO INCREASE SCIENTIFIC LEARNING BY EXPANDING THE REACH OF SCIENCE BOWL AND ENCOURAGING MORE COMPETITION. PROMETHEUS ALSO AIMS TO INTRODUCE TALENTED HIGH SCHOOLERS TO EXISTENTIAL RISKS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO USE THEIR TALENTS TO MAKE A LARGER IMPACT ON THE WORLD.

WITH OUR FIRST GRANT OF $85,000, WE ORGANIZED PROMETHEUS 2022, A SINGLE LARGE SCIENCE BOWL TOURNAMENT WITH 99 TEAMS COMPETING. THE TOURNAMENT OFFERED A PRIZE POOL OF $28,000, WITH PRIZES FOR THE TOP 16 TEAMS FROM $500 TO $10,000, IN ORDER TO DRAW LARGE NUMBERS OF COMPETITORS AND INCREASE THE ORGANIZATION'S LEGITIMACY. WE USED THIS FUNDING PRIMARILY TO PAY STAFF, INCLUDING A TEAM OF 19 QUESTION WRITERS AND SEVERAL DOZEN TOURNAMENT DAY STAFF WHO MANAGED ZOOM LOGISTICS AND MODERATED INDIVIDUAL MATCHES. THE TOURNAMENT RAN OVER THE COURSE OF MARCH 26-27, WITH SEVEN ROUNDS OF ROUND-ROBIN MATCHES ON THE 26TH AND A NINE-ROUND DOUBLE ELIMINATION BRACKET ON THE 27TH. THIS WAS THE LARGEST SINGLE SCIENCE BOWL TOURNAMENT EVER RUN, SINCE THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOWL FINALS HAS NEVER GONE ABOVE 70 TEAMS COMPETING AND NO ONLINE OR IN-PERSON INVITATIONAL HAS HAD MORE THAN 50 TEAMS. THE TOURNAMENT WAS ALSO AN ENORMOUS SUCCESS; OF THE 180 FEEDBACK RESPONSES WE RECEIVED, ONLY 4 HAD A SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE OPINION OF IT, WITH THE LOWEST RATING WE RECEIVED BEING A 3 OUT OF 7. MULTIPLE PARTICIPANTS SAID THEY BELIEVED IT WAS THE BEST TOURNAMENT EVER RUN AND WOULD BE EXTREMELY EXCITED TO PARTICIPATE AGAIN. THE TOURNAMENT WAS ALSO VERY SUCCESSFUL IN INTRODUCING PARTICIPANTS TO LONGTERMISM, ITS NEW QUESTION CATEGORY; 58% OF FEEDBACK FORM RESPONSES INDICATED THEY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN RECEIVING MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES TO LEARN ABOUT THE TOPIC.

IN THE SUMMER OF 2022, PROMETHEUS ORGANIZED ELK, A CONTEST ENCOURAGING PRIMARILY HIGH SCHOOLERS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS TO LEARN ABOUT THE FIELD OF AI ALIGNMENT AND THE PROBLEM OF ELICITING LATENT KNOWLEDGE. THE CONTEST WAS MODELED AFTER A SUCCESSFUL CONTEST OF THE SAME NAME RECENTLY ORGANIZED BY THE ALIGNMENT RESEARCH CENTER, OR ARC. THE PROBLEM PARTICIPANTS WERE INTENDED TO SOLVE OCCURS WHEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OPTIMIZES FOR OUTPUTS MATCHING WHAT A HUMAN WOULD PUT OUT, RATHER THAN PRODUCING WHAT IT ACTUALLY KNOWS ACCORDING TO A CERTAIN METRIC. FOR THE CONTEST, PARTICIPANTS SUBMITTED PROPOSALS FOR NEW STRATEGIES THAT COULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM OR EXTENDING PREVIOUS STRATEGIES TO COVER COUNTEREXAMPLES THAT HAD BEEN POSED TO CONTRADICT THEM. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COMPETITION PERIOD, PROMETHEUS PROVIDED VARIOUS DOCUMENTS WITH INSTRUCTIONS AND TECHNICAL GUIDANCE FOR PARTICIPANTS, AND USED VARIOUS METHODS TO CONDUCT OUTREACH FOR PARTICIPANTS. PROMETHEUS RECEIVED NINE SUBMISSIONS FOR THE CONTEST, SEVEN OF WHICH RECEIVED PRIZES RANGING FROM $500 TO $5,000 PER PARTICIPANT FOR A TOTAL PRIZE POOL OF $25,000.

AT THE END OF 2022, PROMETHEUS BEGAN ORGANIZING IGNIS, A SERIES OF ONLINE AND IN-PERSON SCIENCE BOWL TOURNAMENTS RUN ON A SINGLE SET OF QUESTIONS. THESE TOURNAMENTS WERE EVENTUALLY HELD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, NEW YORK, AND WISCONSIN, WITH PLANNED BUT FAILED TOURNAMENTS IN MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. WITH 142 TEAMS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THIS WAS THE LARGEST SCIENCE BOWL EFFORT EVER OUTSIDE OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOWL, AN ESTABLISHED ORGANIZATION RUN BY THE US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY THAT CREATED THE COMPETITION ITSELF.