What are you trying to do? Is something getting stuck?
I research internal bottlenecks for ASI people and offer both evals and unlearning:
Daniel Tan, coauthor of Emergent Misalignment, was trying to accelerate alignment research but kept losing weeks/months to burnout. Willpower would help him work again, but only briefly. Since our unlearning in summer 2025, he reports long periods of burnout no longer happen. He also spends far less time distracting himself every day, instead pursuing personal projects and hosting events for friends. Interview + video.
An AI researcher wanted to express romantic interest and speak more openly, but kept holding back. Seven years of meditation, 150 hours of IFS therapy, and multiple retreats had not resolved this. After the first unit of unlearning he began asking women out. After a few more he started disagreeing with colleagues, standing up for himself when someone took credit for his work, and texting friends “I miss you.” Video interview. At our last follow-up (18mo), he confirmed these changes have lasted. He also entered a happy long-term relationship and joined a lab.
If you have internal bottlenecks, they will be different. To assess if internal bottlenecks are limiting what you’re trying to do, I offer a one-week eval. You’ll learn how to feel internal incentives so you can assess firsthand and decide whether unlearning would help. You can use what you learn even if we don’t pursue unlearning:
Contact: Twitter DM or chris@chrislakin.com
Long-term data
Year 0 ~ What can be done with ~1–4 afternoons?
Of 10 AI people selected, 6 paid for outcomes
Year 1 ~ What can be done with ~10 afternoons, improved screening, and assignments?
Of 6 AI people selected, 5 paid for outcomes and 1 had to pause
Note: I no longer work with people outside of ASI.
I’ve learned that attempting to remove internal bottlenecks is largely ineffective when external bottlenecks are present, such as severe sleep or health issues, financial or material security, or active personal crisis. If these limit your situation, I will recommend you address them first.
Update: They’ve been together ~1y
I got exactly the results I intended to.
—MTS @ OpenAI, reference available on request
Further references available upon request.
I provide neither medical treatment nor therapy. Substances are not used. Stories were shared with permission.