Malo Bourgon

Hi. I'm Malo, and I work for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), a non-profit working on making sure that good things happen—rather than bad things (which is a serious possibility)—when machines surpass human levels of intelligence (which may very well happen this century). Want to learn more? Check out Facing the Intelligence Explosion. Want to help? Get in touch with me.

When I'm not working for MIRI, I spend most of my time rock climbing (mostly bouldering, sometimes competitively) or reading about AI-risk, cognitive science and rationality, and more tech/science news than I care to admit. When I come across something particularly interesting, I usually post it to my App.net, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

I also spend some time maintaining a web presence for my mom's work in Zambia. Oh, and I wrote an engineering master's thesis on something completely unrelated to anything here.

I'm always on the lookout for great products and services, that can simplify my life and/or save me time. Below are some of my favourites.

(Full disclosure: Some of the services listed below reward users who invite others via personalized links. I didn't create this page to take advantage of this, but you should know that I could benefit from you signing up to a service using the links I have provided.)

Coffee Delivery

I get my coffee beans from a company called Tonx. Here's why:

• They ship their coffee beans directly to my house every two weeks.
• The beans I receive are shipped within 24 hours of being roasted.
• Each shipment is a new variety of coffee.
• They source really great beans.
• No commitments of any kind, i.e., I can cancel whenever I want.

This way I don't ever have to remember to buy coffee, I get the freshest coffee possible short of roasting my own, and I get to try a new and delicious variety of coffee every two weeks.

Skeptical? If you live in the US they'll send you a free sample :)

Razor Blades

I get my razor blades from Dollar Shave Club. Here's why:

• They ship 3 razor cartridges directly to my house every month.
• The cost of the cartridges is about ~50% what I used to pay for my old razor in stores, including the tax and shipping.
• The shave is as good as my old brand name razor.
• No commitments of any kind, i.e., I can cancel whenever I want.

This way I never run out of cartridges, and I'm saving money.

Looking for an even better deal? You can buy direct from their supplier, Dorco, in bulk.