International AI Safety Dialogues: Benefits, Risks, and Best Practices

Events that bring together stakeholders from a range of countries to talk about AI safety (henceforth "safety dialogues") are a promising way to reduce large-scale risks from advanced AI systems. The goal of this report is to help safety dialogue organizers make these events as effective as possible at reducing such risks. We first identify “best practices” for organizers, drawing on research about comparable past events, literature about track II diplomacy, and our experience with international relations topics in AI governance. We then identify harmful outcomes that might result from safety dialogues, and ideas for how organizers can avoid them. Finally, we overview promising AI safety interventions that have already been identified and that might be particularly fruitful to discuss during a safety dialogue.