#42 When do gooders do bad

This week, Arj and Jordan dive into the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. It leads them to a broader discussion about Effective Altruism, a philosophy and a movement to govern charitable giving that has been taken up with gusto by influential tech billionaires (like FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried).

Arj and Jordan discuss how some of the thinking behind Effective Altruism may be having adverse effects on the direction of technology more broadly.

Links:

FTX collapse news story (ABC News) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-03/the-downfall-of-ftx-crypto-king-sam-bankman-fried/101714162

Effective Altruism website https://www.effectivealtruism.org/

Peter Singer pond thought experiment https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au/child-in-the-pond/#:~:text=If%20you%20don't%20wade,ll%20be%20late%20for%20work.

Timnit Gebru oped about Effective Altruism (WIRED) https://www.wired.com/story/effective-altruism-artificial-intelligence-sam-bankman-fried/

Critique of longtermism (New Statesman) https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/11/elon-musk-william-macaskill-useful-philosopher

Credits:

Music by Bensound.com