EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

This is a link post. My PhD is in evolutionary biology, and I spent much of my time learning and thinking about genetic governance mechanisms like meiosis. I find myself wanting a link to share on these concepts, so I'm publishing some old writing I did in 2022 that makes the comparison. Gradient descent and natural selection are analogous Gradient descent can be compared to natural selection. Both are optimization algorithms. But while gradient descent is only decades old as part of the field of machine learning (ML), natural selection is the reason complex living beings like human readers exist. Are there any lessons we can learn about alignment by looking at the products of natural selection? Oly Sourbut has written up a set of conditions under which natural selection and gradient descent are equivalent, i.e., where the same inputs will lead to the same outputs under both algorithms [...] ---Outline:(00:32) Gradient descent and natural selection are analogous(01:38) Gradient descent can be hacked(03:09) There is something like gradient hacking in biology: meiotic drive(05:34) How meiotic drive works(08:30) Recombination is the major genetic alignment technology(09:46) Examples of meiotic drive(17:46) Losing the ability to do meiosis is a death sentence for a species(19:45) Acknowledgments--- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qX6swbcvrtHct8G8g/genes-did-misalignment-first-comparing-gradient-hacking-and Linkpost URL:https://hollyelmore.substack.com/p/genes-did-misalignment-first-comparing --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

EA-aligned animal advocacy is often criticized for measurability bias. In this post, I argue that the usual epistemic safeguards of leftist advocacy are unavailable in animal advocacy, and as a result, measurability is doubly important in our domain. What do pro-measurement people say? Intuition and abstract reasoning are very poor predictors of charity performance. Furthermore, charities differ 100x in effectiveness, therefore measuring the cost-effectiveness of charities enables us to do much more good. We need careful scientific studies and preferably RCTs to figure out which interventions work. Through measurement, we will have a transparent accountability mechanism which will help us identify cases of failure and stop funding things that don't work. What are the usual criticisms of measurability bias? Not all important outcomes are measurable. How do you quantify the value of a social movement, a shift in public discourse, or groundbreaking legal precedent? External measurement misses [...] ---Outline:(00:27) What do pro-measurement people say?(01:00) What are the usual criticisms of measurability bias?(01:52) What is the main leftist alternative to measurable outcomes?(02:35) You cant do standpoint epistemology with non-human animals(03:27) Balancing measurement with movement building--- First published: April 17th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rwXiBwzczXLzr4zRb/measurability-is-doubly-important-in-animal-advocacy --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Saw this post by @Henri Thunberg 🔸 on Twitter: If true, these numbers are suprisingly low to me. Eyestalk ablation gets quite a bit of attention on the forum. Shrimp Welfare Project focuses on it and it forms part of their Shrimp Welfare Index. It gets attention from various animal welfare groups (Mercy For Animals, Animals Australia). A post on Reddit about it from a couple of days ago has 35 k upvotes and 2000 comments. An Australian politician recently posted about it. A lot of this attention, I suspect, is based on the false impression that this is happening to most or all of the shrimp. The numbers of animals involved seems like pertinent information but I can't see the number mentioned on the Shrimp Welfare Project website, nor on any of their forum posts. Rethink Priorities wrote a report here that on page 13 seems to estimate [...] --- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/tCDQh3DzZx3H5xqob/how-many-shrimp-really-undergo-eyestalk-ablation --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Three Epoch employees – Matthew Barnett, Tamay Besiroglu, and Ege Erdil – have left to launch Mechanize, an AI startup aiming for broad automation of ordinary labour: Today we’re announcing Mechanize, a startup focused on developing virtual work environments, benchmarks, and training data that will enable the full automation of the economy. We will achieve this by creating simulated environments and evaluations that capture the full scope of what people do at their jobs. ... Currently, AI models have serious shortcomings that render most of this enormous value out of reach. They are unreliable, lack robust long-context capabilities, struggle with agency and multimodality, and can’t execute long-term plans without going off the rails. To overcome these limitations, Mechanize will produce the data and evals necessary for comprehensively automating work. Our digital environments will act as practical simulations of real-world work scenarios, enabling agents to learn useful abilities through RL. [...] --- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/HqKnreqC3EFF9YcEs/untitled-draft-siuu --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

If you’re interested in having a meaningful EA career but your experience doesn’t match the types of jobs that the typical white collar, intellectual EA community leans towards, then you’re just like me. I have been earning to give as a nuclear power plant operator in Southern Maryland for the past few years, and I think it's a great opportunity for other EA's who want to make a difference but don’t have a PhD in philosophy or public policy. Additionally, I have personal sway with Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs plant, so I can influence the hiring process to help any interested applicants. Here are a few reasons that I think this is such an ideal Earn to Give career: A high income job in a low cost of living area means you will be able to donate a significant portion of your paychecks and still live comfortably. [...] --- First published: April 17th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/LeuLyJEXcjAkeB965/e2g-help-available --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

TL;DR Exactly one year after receiving our seed funding upon completion of the Charity Entrepreneurship program, we (Miri and Evan) look back on our first year of operations, discuss our plans for the future, and launch our fundraising for our Year 2 budget.Family Planning could be one of the most cost-effective public health interventions available. Reducing unintended pregnancies lowers maternal mortality, decreases rates of unsafe abortions, and reduces maternal morbidity. Increasing the interval between births lowers under-five mortality. Allowing women to control their reproductive health leads to improved education and a significant increase in their income. Many excellent organisations have laid out the case for Family Planning, most recently GiveWell.[1]In many low and middle income countries, many women who want to delay or prevent their next pregnancy can not access contraceptives due to poor supply chains and high costs. Access to Medicines Initiative (AMI) was incubated by [...] ---Outline:(00:15) TL;DR(01:28) The Problem(03:30) Year 1 Retrospective(03:34) Pilot(07:19) Preliminary Pilot Results(07:23) Increasing the Total Amount of Contraceptives(09:57) Investigating the Distribution of Contraceptives(11:37) Year 1 Spending(12:44) Updated Cost-Effectiveness Analysis at Scale(15:59) Our Strategy for Year Two (And Beyond)(17:00) Expanding Our Procurement of Contraceptives(18:21) Providing Technical Assistance for State-Funded Procurement of Contraceptives(20:12) Improving and Expanding our Monitoring & Evaluation(21:53) Projected Cost-Effectiveness of Our Year 2 Work(22:38) Budget and Funding Gap(24:00) Why Support Access to Medicines Initiative?(26:50) How You Can Help(27:50) AcknowledgmentsThe original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 17th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/n6xqYfdwT8pQiCWJK/introducing-access-to-medicines-initiative-year-one-results --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

We’re holding a DIY debate week on the Forum, from April 28–May 2nd.What's a DIY debate week? It's been great seeing and hearing people responding positively to debate weeks (1,2,3), writing posts, getting into discussions, and voting in large numbers. I especially like that voting on the banner prompts people to leave a comment, which then starts discussions. I’d love to know if that vote→conversation pipeline holds if we let everyone make polls. So… we are releasing a poll-making feature for everyone to use. We’re holding this DIY debate week to celebrate that release, during which we’ll ask users to make and discuss polls. Throughout the week, the Forum team will promote polls we think are particularly valuable. This could be by pinning them on the Frontpage, linking them on social media, putting them in the Forum Digest, etc... The polls will look like our debate week [...] ---Outline:(00:18) What's a DIY debate week?(01:27) How can I take part?(02:04) How does the poll feature work?(02:48) Putting a poll in your post(03:33) Interacting with the poll as a readerThe original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 16th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pAYSK7voaNeDRDFCs/diy-debate-week-april-28-may-2nd --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

SUMMARY: ALLFED is launching an emergency appeal on the EA Forum due to a serious funding shortfall. Without new support, ALLFED will be forced to cut half our budget in the coming months, drastically reducing our capacity to help build global food system resilience for catastrophic scenarios like nuclear winter, a severe pandemic, or infrastructure breakdown. ALLFED is seeking $800,000 over the course of 2025 to sustain its team, continue policy-relevant research, and move forward with pilot projects that could save lives in a catastrophe. As funding priorities shift toward AI safety, we believe resilient food solutions remain a highly cost-effective way to protect the future. If you’re able to support or share this appeal, please visit allfed.info/donate. FULL ARTICLE: I (David Denkenberger) am writing alongside two of my team-mates, as ALLFED's co-founder, to ask for your support. This is the first time in Alliance [...] ---Outline:(02:40) The case for ALLFED's work, and why we think maintaining full current capacity is valuable(04:14) How this connects to AI and other risks(05:39) What we're asking for--- First published: April 16th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/K7hPmcaf2xEZ6F4kR/allfed-emergency-appeal-help-us-raise-usd800-000-to-avoid-1 --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

We’ve written a new report on the threat of AI-enabled coups. I think this is a very serious risk – comparable in importance to AI takeover but much more neglected. In fact, AI-enabled coups and AI takeover have pretty similar threat models. To see this, here's a very basic threat model for AI takeover: Humanity develops superhuman AI Superhuman AI is misaligned and power-seeking Superhuman AI seizes power for itself And now here's a closely analogous threat model for AI-enabled coups: Humanity develops superhuman AI Superhuman AI is controlled by a small group Superhuman AI seizes power for the small group While the report focuses on the risk that someone seizes power over a country, I think that similar dynamics could allow someone to take over the world. In fact, if someone wanted to take over the world, their best strategy might well be to first stage an AI-enabled [...] ---Outline:(02:37) Summary(03:29) An AI workforce could be made singularly loyal to institutional leaders(05:01) AI could have hard-to-detect secret loyalties(06:43) A few people could gain exclusive access to coup-enabling AI capabilities(09:44) Mitigations(12:58) VignetteThe original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 16th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Tw9vGNKjQzF9YGFa4/ai-enabled-coups-a-small-group-could-use-ai-to-seize-power --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

This is a link post. This is a linkpost for the above expression of interest, but I want to add for this audience: If you Watch a lot of shortform (who amongst us...) Have a sense of what's successful on platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Learn and work quickly Then I think you'll be able to figure out Capcut, Descript and similar very quickly and be a good fit for this even if you've never done it before. Right now we want to move fast, make a lot of videos and see what works. Having EA and AI context is especially great since you'll be able to find the links, screenshots and captions that best fit the content, though it's not required. Summary We’re looking for a video editor who can create excellent shortform videos about transformative AI and its risks given footage, audio and notes. Location [...] ---Outline:(01:02) Summary(01:37) Help make spectacular videos that reach a huge audience.(01:58) Why this role?(02:42) Responsibilities(02:58) About you(03:34) Role details(03:44) Application process--- First published: April 15th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/nSHrJhkpP9RvS8MWF/contracting-opportunity-be-a-shortform-video-editor-for-the Linkpost URL:https://80000hours.org/2025/04/expression-of-interest-shortform-video-editing-contractor/ --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.