Effective Altruism News
Effective Altruism News
- Climate change doesn't rank as a top EA cause area because it already receives substantial funding, is less neglected than other risks, and—under gradual-warming scenarios—seems unlikely to cause human extinction. I broadly agree with that assessment. Yet some problems under the climate umbrella do fit EA criteria of scale, neglectedness, and tractability.
- Could Anti-Realism be Objectively True?
- How to steer toward a positive AGI future
- For overdetermined reasons, I’ve lately found the world an increasingly terrifying and depressing place. It’s gotten harder and harder to concentrate on research, or even popular science writing. Every so often, though, something breaks through that wakes my inner child, reminds me of why I fell in love with research thirty years ago, and helps […]...
- Sorry but the suspiciously convenient narrative is false
- I’ve previously written about social predators, people whose primary mode of life consists, not of creating value, but of transferring value created by other people to themselves—...
- Opiniestuk verschenen in Knack (29-06-25) De Hoge Gezondheidsraad formuleerde 17 adviezen voor een gezondere voeding, om het risico op chronische ziektes te verminderen. Daarbij hield ze ook rekening met de duurzaamheid. Meer volkoren en peulvruchten in plaats van geraffineerde graanproducten … Lees verder →...
- Last Thursday, I took my son to the Rose Center for Earth and Space at New York’s Museum of Natural History. In the Hayden Planetarium, we watched a simulation of the Milky Way bloom above us, while the actor Pedro Pascal — who truly is everywhere — narrated the galactic dance unfolding on the screen. […]...
- YouTube link. In this episode, I talk with Peter Salib about his paper “AI Rights for Human Safety”, arguing that giving AIs the right to contract, hold property, and sue people will reduce the risk of their trying to attack humanity and take over. He also tells me how law reviews work, in the face of my incredulity. Topics we discuss: Why AI rights. Why not reputation.
- Considering a law degree, currently studying, or already graduated? This guide will take you through some of the most promising career paths you could enter with a background in law. These aren’t just any careers. At Probably Good, we believe your career is one of the most significant opportunities you... Read more...
- Considering an engineering degree, currently studying, or already graduated? This guide will take you through some of the most promising career paths you could enter with a background in engineering. Of course, engineering is a broad term, and there are many kinds of engineers and engineering subjects to study. In... Read more...
- I originally wrote this just for myself but thought I'd share it in case others find it useful. Sharing rough notes in the spirit of not letting perfect be the enemy of the good. This was written in early May 2025. In this post I collect evidence and forecasts regarding recent and future trends in software and compute progress.
- When discussing AI control, we often talk about levels of AI capabilities where we think control can probably greatly lower risks and where we can probably estimate risks. However, I think it's plausible that an important application of control is modestly improving our odds of surviving significantly superhuman systems which are misaligned.
- Every month we send an email newsletter to our supporters sharing recent updates from our work. We publish selected portions of the newsletter on our blog to make this news more accessible to people who visit our website. For key updates from the latest installment, please see below!. If you’d like to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox each month, you can subscribe here. Read More.
- Conservation finance is failing and local communities are still shut out On June 11, more than 50 practitioners gathered in Nairobi to explore a bold question: What if we tackled conservation not by restricting communities but by trusting them? Co-hosted by Equal Right, GiveDirectly, and the Global Resilience Partnership, the “Cash for Conservation” workshop brought […]...
- In what the Westminster Police Department described as an “unfortunate, difficult, and unusual situation,” two cows scheduled for slaughter were shot after escaping a farm. The cows were reportedly being prepared for the butcher when they escaped their Maryland farm and charged into a residential neighborhood. One cow briefly entered a strength-and-conditioning gym. The gym’s […].
- Getting cash to people before disaster strikes can save lives. That’s why we piloted an AI-powered flood response in Nigeria, predicting where floods would hit and delivering early cash to those most at risk. By combining cutting-edge forecasts with local insights, we reached flood-prone communities faster, more affordably, and with greater precision—delivering aid before the […]...
- If you are planning on doing AI policy communications to DC policymakers, I recommend watching the full video of the Select Committee on the CCP hearing from this week. In his introductory comments, Ranking Member Representative Krishnamoorthi played a clip of Neo fighting an army of Agent Smiths, described it as misaligned AGI fighting humanity, and then announced he was working on a bill...
- Our first round of grants designed to meet needs and seize opportunities in climate action under the Republican trifecta.
- THANK YOU! You gave. You shared. You believed. And it made a difference. Together, we reached our $100,000 fundraising goal — matched by a generous family for a total of $200,000! These funds will train the next generation of eye care professionals through Seva’s Dr. Suzanne Gilbert Training Academy. Through Seva’s training academy, Saisiri became …. The post Look what you made possible.
- Millions of animals suffer every day in regions where their welfare is barely on the agenda. But that can change—with the right action, advocacy, and people like you driving progress. Animal advocacy in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is vital but often overlooked. Despite the vast scale of animal suffering in these regions, animal welfare […]...
- Transformer Weekly: A very AGI-pilled Congressional hearing; moratorium machinations; and a bunch of copyright developments.
- And what, if anything, should be done?
- Listen now | Unpacking Broad Disagreement Between the Forecasters
- A guest post by my Dad
- Sometimes my seven-year-old, Vasili, wants to see some godawful movie that makes me want to melt my eyeballs out of my head.
- As fires raged across Australia in 2019/2020, official emergency plans neglected animals, leaving communities to do their best to protect them. The post Caring For Animals During Australia’s “Black Summer” Bushfires appeared first on Faunalytics.
- The AGI vibes, they are a-shiftin'
- Write for ATVBT
- New Secure AI Tech Tree
- How much time can control buy us during the intelligence explosion?
- Episode one of The Works in Progress Podcast is out now
- The deadliest country in the world for young children is South Sudan — the United Nations estimates that about 1 in 10 children born there won’t make it to their fifth birthday. But just a hundred years ago, that was true right here in the United States: Every community buried about a tenth of their […]...
- On this episode, Daniel Susskind joins me to discuss disagreements between AI researchers and economists, how we can best measure AI’s economic impact, how human values can influence economic outcomes, what meaningful work will remain for humans in the future, the role of commercial incentives in AI development, and the future of education.
- For the past year, Target Malaria has partnered with Diptera.ai, a mission-driven biotech startup that is working to make vector control technology, like gene drive, accessible to all, especially those that it the most and can afford it the least. The company offers a number of technological solutions to optimize Target Malaria’s mosquito production, chief […].
- In response to Matthew's post about the objectivity of morality, I'd thought I'd throw out a(n initially -- this became much longer than I was expecting) short post explaining why I think this view is pretty implausible. I have another post on my Substack that shows why I think some other arguments for moral realism fail (though I'm not sure I endorse everything I argue there anymore...).
- An objection against trying to reduce suffering is that we cannot predict whether our actions will reduce or increase suffering in the long term. Relatedly, some have argued that we are clueless about the effects that any realistic action would have on total welfare, and this cluelessness, it has been claimed, undermines our reason to help others in effective ways.
- Summary: To quickly transform the world, it's not enough for AI to become super smart (the "intelligence explosion"). AI will also have to turbocharge the physical world (the "industrial explosion"). Think robot factories building more and better robot factories, which build more and better robot factories, and so on.
- Many thanks to Max Taylor, Alistair Stewart, Albert Didriksen, Jeff and Johannes Pichler for feedback on this post. All mistakes are my own. This post does not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. Executive Summary. I believe that AI development could have an outsized impact on animal welfare and that these stakes warrant deep investigation.
- Announcement: Do you have experience using psychedelics to treat cluster headaches? Want to support science and advocacy in this area? Submit your personal and/or professional testimonial to our upcoming “ClusterFree” Open Letter initiative. Sitting Down with Cluster Busters at Psychedelic Science 2025 One of the highlight moments for me at Psychedelic Science 2025 in Denver this […]...
- Kenny Torrella at Vox has written a nice piece on demand-side interventions to reduce meat consumption, and what we might lose if we focus entirely on producers and politics (supply-side interventions). The article focuses on the results of a recent preprint about the effects of watching Dominion (Kramer and Landry 2025) and also covers a meta-analysis I worked on, and previously summarized...
- Overview The UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) invites applications for a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) position to work within CLTC’s AI Security Initiative for the Fall…. The post AI Security Initiative Seeking Fall 2025 Graduate Student Researcher appeared first on CLTC.
- In the face of potential major cuts to foreign aid, how can we anticipate the impact on global health and effectively direct resources to the areas of greatest need?. In this episode, GiveWell’s CEO and co-founder, Elie Hassenfeld, speaks with Principal Researcher Alex Cohen to discuss the forecasting work GiveWell has undertaken to better understand what the future of global health funding...
- Summary: This post highlights the need for results in AI safety, such as debate or scalable oversight, to 'relativise', i.e. for the result to hold even when all parties are given access to a black box 'oracle' (the oracle might be a powerful problem solver, a random function, or a model of arbitrary human preferences).
- and what we can do about it
- Factory farming is a particularly wicked problem to solve. It’s a moral atrocity, involving the confinement and slaughter of hundreds of billions of animals globally each year. It’s a blight on the environment. It’s terrible for slaughterhouse workers, many of whom suffer from PTSD, anxiety, or depression. Yet factory farming produces something almost everyone wants […]...
- The man behind the last few decades of biotech breakthroughs
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | June 26, 2025 — Fifty African Union Member States have endorsed a ground-breaking digital micro-planning portal co-created by Africa CDC to accelerate the elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases — a diverse group of infectious diseases that primarily affect impoverished communities in tropical and subtropical areas.
- Drawing on survey data from more than 200 animal advocacy organizations worldwide, this report maps how these groups are spending to transform the global food system. The post Mapping Global Animal Advocacy Spending appeared first on Faunalytics.
- My notes on a short book in which Russell presents his worldview and employs some fine phases and a peculiar metaethics. The post Bertrand Russell: What I Believe (1925) appeared first on James Aitchison.
- After further rounds of consultations with member states, the co-facilitators from Spain and Costa Rica have published Revision 3 for the…
- From May 26th to 30th, 2025, the Target Malaria Uganda Stakeholder Engagement team at Uganda Virus Research Institute conducted a week-long engagement on Bubeke Island on Lake Victoria in Kalangala district. This field activity attracted community leaders, opinion leaders, sub-county officials, youth, women’s groups, and health workers to share updates, clarify concerns, and enhance project […].
- Journavx was approved this year. Why did it take so long to develop?
- I used to feel powerless against the world’s problems. Then I discovered effective giving — and realised even a small donation can have a huge impact. Now I give knowing it works. Link in bio.
- Crossposted from my Substack. @titotal recently posted an in-depth critique of AI 2027. I'm a fan of his work, and this post was, as expected, phenomenal*. Much of the critique targets the unjustified weirdness of the superexponential time horizon growth curve that underpins the AI 2027 forecast.
- An objection against trying to reduce suffering is that we cannot predict whether our actions will reduce or increase suffering in the long term. Relatedly, some have argued that we are clueless about the effects that any realistic action would have on total welfare, and this cluelessness, it has been claimed, undermines our reason to... Continue Reading →...
- 1 Introduction. (Crossposted from my blog--formatting is better there). Very large numbers of people seem to think that climate change is likely to end the world. Biden and Harris both called it an existential threat.
- This post contains similar content to a forthcoming paper, in a framing more directly addressed to readers already interested in and informed about alignment. I include some less formal thoughts, and cut some technical details.
- Abstract: We propose a new variant of online learning that we call "ambiguous online learning". In this setting, the learner is allowed to produce multiple predicted labels. Such an "ambiguous prediction" is considered correct when at least one of the labels is correct, and none of the labels are "predictably wrong".
- Your farmed animal advocacy update for late June 2025
- A perspective from Eli Dourado, Astera’s Head of Strategic Investments...
- Summary: I've recently completed a 7 week series on global development, I thought it would be useful to share each week on the forum as well in case people missed the announcement post. The aim is to give people a more comprehensive overview of the global development landscape, either for those considering working/donating in this area, or if you are already in development but want to...
- The goals of animal advocacy organizations have the potential to benefit people and the environment, leading many to believe that increased cooperation between social movements may increase their impact. This study explores social movements in Southeast Asia, offering insight to help advocates there make collaboration easier and more effective.
- Climate change is not an existential risk!
- A communal love letter to my husband
- Over 1.5 billion farmed animals are traded live each year. This study maps trade routes and highlights the major risks to animals, people, and the planet. The post The Scale Of The Global Trade In Live Farmed Animals appeared first on Faunalytics.
- A hidden crisis. Literally, quintillions 1 of animals are suffering and dying right now in the wild, due to disease, hunger, thirst, excessive heat or cold, and other factors. Yet, most people—including those who express concern for animals—fail to give importance to this issue. Why?.
- you get approval, and you get approval
- July 2 deadline: Influence US tech policy | Job Blast 🚀 TechCongress Fellowship: $73.5K stipend, no gov experience required, apply by July 2 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏...
- EA Forum Digest #246 Hello!. Reputable substacker Bentham’s Bulldog has set up a debate event on the Forum, discussing whether morality is objective. Currently the vote is split — maybe you can sway them. Also, CEA is hiring for a director of EA Funds, deadline June 29th. — Toby (for the Forum team). We recommend:
- Will MacAskill discusses his recent work on preparing for the intelligence explosion and on focusing on trying to reach near-best futures rather than (merely) trying to prevent catastrophe. Will MacAskill is a Senior Research Fellow at Forethought.
- Saloni Dattani makes the case that data collection isn’t just an academic concern; it’s crucial for policymaking, journalism, and industry, and, in some cases, a matter of life or death. Data collection has changed our understanding of diseases like cholera, tuberculosis and snakebite envenoming; and has been crucial in tracking progress over time and identifying emerging problems.
- Most people believe forecasting gets systematically harder over longer time periods — that it is hard to see further through the mists of time. But there are many forecasting questions for which the reverse is true. In this talk, Toby Ord shows how this can be, teasing out a variety of different mechanisms which can make prediction about the further future easier.
- Development economist Rachel Glennerster discusses reasons for optimism in global development despite recent aid cuts and declining international cooperation. She explores how innovation drives human progress and examines advanced market commitments as tools for promoting innovation where social and private benefits are misaligned.
- Leadership transitions are pivotal but inevitable moments in an organization's life cycle that can either strengthen or destabilize it—and how it will go is often decided by actions taken months, if not years in advance.
- Innovation is the key driver of growth and increases in human wellbeing. Investing in innovation can be extremely cost-effective, because the costs of developing and testing new innovations are relatively low, but they can have huge impacts if scaled up by governments or firms to reach millions of people.
- Millions of people use ChatGPT for help with daily tasks, but for a subset of users, a chatbot can be more of a hindrance than a help. Some people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are finding this out the hard way. On online forums and in their therapists’ offices, they report turning to ChatGPT with […]...
- There is dispute among EAs--and the general public more broadly--about whether morality is objective. So I thought I'd kick off a debate about this, and try to draw more people into reading and posting on the forum! Here is my opening volley in the debate, and I encourage others to respond. Unlike a lot of effective altruists and people in my segment of the internet, I am a moral realist.
- Today’s best AI “large language models” are especially good at tasks where hallucinations and other failures are low-stakes, such as making music recommendations. Here is continuously-updated doc of music search prompts I’ve found helpful, a few examples below: Which compositions by [composer] are most popular and/or highly regarded today? Please list 20 of their compositions […]...
- A hidden crisis. Literally, quintillions 1 of animals are suffering and dying right now in the wild, due to disease, hunger, thirst, excessive heat or cold, and other factors. Yet, most people—including those who express concern for animals—fail to give importance to this issue. Why?.
- Warranted moral criticism is rarely welcomed
- Decision-making and politics are becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities. However, people with intellectual disabilities still face barriers.
- The post 2024 Annual Report | The Future of Leadership appeared first on The END Fund.
- The post Wakiso District Supervisors Undergo Refresher Training on eCHIS and DHIS2 appeared first on Living Goods.
- As more people turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity to answer their questions, an opportunity to go beyond traditional communication efforts like SEO arises. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) refers to the practice of structuring content so it can be accurately retrieved and cited by large language models (LLMs).
- Art has died and been reborn a thousand times now. Join me at its graveside once again. Let us speak a few words for what once was. Let us imagine the inconceivable and hollow future ahead without it. If you weep, I will pass you my handkerchief. And let us all pretend to be surprised once more when it bursts out of its coffin, on fire, and singing.
- California YIMBY issued the following statement on news that AB 609, creating CEQA exemptions for infill housing, would be signed into law as part of the state budget (through AB 130, a trailer bill): “This is one of the biggest…. The post California YIMBY Statement on AB 609: CEQA infill <span class="dewidow">housing exemption</span> appeared first on California YIMBY.
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