★ Welcome to my home page!
Hello, and welcome. My name is Chris - or at least, Chris is who I play at our meetups, and by now most everyone in the club just calls me that. I started the New York City Anthropic Fan Club in the autumn of 2021, and I put together this page so that anyone else here in the city who feels the way I do would have a way to find us.
I should say right at the start that I am not a researcher myself, and that we are not affiliated with Anthropic in any official way. I work an ordinary job and read the papers in the evenings, as best I can. A few years ago I got to thinking that surely there were other people here in New York who cared about this the way I did, and it turned out that I was right. We have been meeting once a month ever since, in the back booth of a Denny's, and it has quietly become my favorite evening of the month.
We talk about alignment, and interpretability, and whether any of us truly understood the last paper we read (usually not, but we try). Everyone is welcome at the table, whether you have read every paper or none of them yet. There is no test to pass. There is only coffee, and pancakes, and good company.
Please make yourself a coffee, have a look around, and stay as long as you like. I am so glad you found us.
★ The Casting Call
As the centerpiece of each meetup, we put on a gentle reenactment of what we imagine a typical Anthropic all-hands might be like. It is done with a great deal of affection and almost no rehearsal at all. The only real trouble is that we still do not have enough people to fill all of the parts.
As I mentioned, I play Chris Olah, so that part is spoken for. What we need most of all are someone to play Dario and someone to play Amanda. If one of the roles below speaks to you, please claim it. Costumes are warmly encouraged, though not required in the slightest.
| Role | Status | What it asks of you | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Olah interpretability |
✓︎ TAKEN (by me) |
A belief that there is real beauty inside a neural network, and the patience to look closely enough to find it. | |
| Dario Amodei chief executive |
STILL NEEDED |
A warm and thoughtful presence who can speak earnestly about where the field is heading. You will be asked to read one short paragraph of Machines of Loving Grace aloud. A comfortable sweater is always welcome. | |
| Amanda Askell philosophy, and Claude's character |
STILL NEEDED |
An interest in philosophy is a lovely fit, though not necessary. What matters most is genuine kindness toward the person playing Claude, and a real curiosity about questions that do not have easy answers. | |
| Daniela Amodei president |
OPEN | A steady and organized presence who helps the evening run smoothly and makes sure everyone at the table feels looked after. | |
| Jack Clark policy |
OPEN | Someone who follows the wider conversation around AI policy closely, and enjoys helping the rest of the table understand why this week's developments matter. | |
| Jared Kaplan chief science officer |
OPEN | A love of working things out from first principles. At some point in the evening you will likely be asked to estimate something on the back of a napkin, and we hope you will enjoy it. | |
| Claude our guest of honor |
ANYONE WELCOME |
Simply be helpful, harmless, and honest. You will sit at the head of the booth as our guest, and we will make sure you always have a fresh glass of water. |
Roles are claimed on an honor system, first come first served. Everything here is done out of admiration and good fun, and no impersonation of any real person is ever meant unkindly.