EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)

I've written before about trying to bring US private foundations into EA as major funders. I got some helpful feedback and haven't really pursued it further. I study US private foundations as a researcher and recently conducted a qualitative data collection of staff at 20 very large US private foundations ($100m+ assets). The subject of the study isn't directly EA related (focused mostly on how they use accounting/effectiveness information and accountability), but it got me thinking a lot! Some interesting observations that I am going to explore further, in future forum posts (if y'all think it's interesting) and future research papers: Trust-based philanthropy (TBP), a funder movement that's only been around since 2020, has had a HUGE impact on very large private foundations. All 20 indicated that they had already/were in the process of integrating TBP into their grantmaking. I can't emphasize enough how influential TBP has been. [...] --- First published: March 15th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Pnv6PRyeCPZknsbEw/the-lack-of-ea-in-us-private-foundations --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a draft amnesty post. Summary. It seems plausible that fetuses can suffer from 12 weeks of age, and quite reasonable that then can suffer from 24 weeks of age. Some late-term abortion procedures seem that they might cause a fetus excruciating suffering. Over 35,000 of these procedures occur each year in the US alone. Further research would be desired on interventions to reduce this suffering, such as mandating fetal anesthesia for late-term abortions. BackgroundMost people agree that a fetus has the capacity to suffer at some point. If a fetus has the capacity to suffer, then we ought to reduce that suffering when possible. Fetal anesthesia is standard practice for fetal surgery,[1] but I am unaware of it ever being used during late-term abortions. If the fetus can suffer, these procedures likely cause the fetus extreme pain. I think the cultural environment EAs usually [...] ---Outline:(00:40) Background(01:28) Surgical Abortion Procedures(01:34) LI (Labor Induction)(02:18) DandE (Dilation and Evacuation)(02:38) When Can a Fetus Suffer?(03:46) Scale in US and UK(03:50) 2021 UK(04:05) 2020 USA(05:02) InterventionsThe original text contained 11 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 17th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/vhKZ7hyzmcrWuBwDL/the-scale-of-fetal-suffering-in-late-term-abortions --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I like Open Phil's worldview diversification. But I don't think their current roster of worldviews does a good job of justifying their current practice. In this post, I'll suggest a reconceptualization that may seem radical in theory but is conservative in practice. Something along these lines strikes me as necessary to justify giving substantial support to paradigmatic Global Health & Development charities in the face of competition from both Longtermist/x-risk and Animal Welfare competitor causes. Current Orthodoxy I take it that Open Philanthropy's current "cause buckets" or candidate worldviews are typically conceived of as follows: neartermist - incl. animal welfare neartermist - human-only longtermism / x-risk We're told that how to weigh these cause areas against each other "hinge[s] on very debatable, uncertain questions." (True enough!) But my impression is that EAs often take the relevant questions to be something like, should we be speciesist? and should we [...] ---Outline:(00:35) Current Orthodoxy(01:17) The Problem(02:43) A Proposed Solution(04:26) ImplicationsThe original text contained 3 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 18th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dmEwQZSbPsYhFay2G/ea-worldviews-need-rethinking --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

In 2022, Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) led the charge in Banding Together to Ban Octopus Farming. In 2024, we are ecstatic to see these efforts come to fruition in Washington State. This landmark achievement underscores our collective commitment to rejecting the introduction of additional animals into the seafood system and positions Washington State as a true pioneer in aquatic animal welfare legislation. In light of this success, ALI is joining forces with various organizations to advocate for similar bans across the United States and utilizing these monumental examples as leverage in continuous European endeavors. 2022 Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) and members of the Aquatic Animal Alliance (AAA) comment on the Environmental Impact of Nueva Pescanova before the Government of the Canary Islands: General Directorate of Fisheries and the General Directorate for the Fight against Climate Change and the Environment. Allowing this industrial octopus farm to operate [...] ---Outline:(00:45) 2022(01:44) 2023(03:37) 2024(04:50) March 14, 2024--- First published: March 15th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AD8QchabkrygXkdgm/we-did-it-victory-for-octopus-in-washington-state --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) was founded out of Charity Entrepreneurship (AIM)'s 2022 Incubation Program and has since piloted two interventions integrating postpartum (post-birth) contraceptive counselling into routine care appointments in Ghana. We concluded this pilot work in December 2023. A stronger understanding of the context and impact of postpartum family planning work, on the back of our pilot results, has led us to conclude that our intervention is not among the most cost-effective interventions available. We’ve therefore decided to shut down and redirect our funding to other organisations. This article summarises MHI's work, our assessment of the value of postpartum family planning programming, and our decision to shut down MHI as an organisation in light of our results. We also share some lessons learned. An in-depth report expanding on the same themes is available on our website. We encourage you to skip to the sections that are [...] ---Outline:(01:40) Why we chose to pursue postpartum family planning(01:45) Why family planning?(02:28) Why postpartum (post-birth)?(03:49) MHI: An overview of our work(06:16) Pilot: Design(08:54) Pilot: Results(08:58) Sample Population(09:36) Implementation(10:19) Changes in Contraceptive Uptake(11:13) Conclusions From Our Pilot Results(13:13) Why We No Longer Believe Postpartum Family Planning Is Among The Most Cost-Effective Interventions(13:35) Evidence of Limited Effects on Unintended Pregnancies(16:06) The Prevalence and Impact of Postpartum Insusceptibility(17:07) Short-Spaced Pregnancies(17:48) Theory of Change(18:14) Other Factors(18:28) Broader Thoughts on Family Planning(18:45) Concerns(20:43) Reasons We Still Believe In The Importance Of Family Planning Work(22:53) Choosing to Shut Down(23:43) Considering a Pivot(26:47) Proceeding to Shut Down(27:38) Lessons(33:39) Conclusions--- First published: March 15th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MWSwSXNmsSBaEKtKw/maternal-health-initiative-is-shutting-down --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This might be one of the best pieces of introductory content to the concepts of effective giving that GWWC has produced in recent years! I hit the streets of London to engage with everyday people about their views on charity, giving back, and where they thought they stood on the global income scale. This video was made to engage people with some of the core concepts of income inequality and charity effectiveness in the hope of getting more people interested in giving effectively. If you enjoy it - I'd really appreciate a like, comment or share on YouTube to help us reach more people! There's a blog post and transcript of the video available too. Big thanks to Suzy Sheperd for directing and editing this project and to Julian Jamison and Habiba Banu for being interviewed! --- First published: March 13th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/tX2MqRfZtz7TqYCQi/new-video-you-re-richer-than-you-realise Linkpost URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekIRVhbpiQw --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Authors of linked report: Josh Rosenberg, Ezra Karger, Avital Morris, Molly Hickman, Rose Hadshar, Zachary Jacobs, Philip Tetlock[1] Today, the Forecasting Research Institute (FRI) released “Roots of Disagreement on AI Risk: Exploring the Potential and Pitfalls of Adversarial Collaboration,” which discusses the results of an adversarial collaboration focused on forecasting risks from AI. In this post, we provide a brief overview of the methods, findings, and directions for further research. For much more analysis and discussion, see the full report: https://forecastingresearch.org/s/AIcollaboration.pdf Abstract. We brought together generalist forecasters and domain experts (n=22) who disagreed about the risk AI poses to humanity in the next century. The “concerned” participants (all of whom were domain experts) predicted a 20% chance of an AI-caused existential catastrophe by 2100, while the “skeptical” group (mainly “superforecasters”) predicted a 0.12% chance. Participants worked together to find the strongest near-term cruxes: forecasting questions resolving by 2030 that [...] ---Outline:(02:13) Extended Executive Summary(02:44) Methods(03:53) Results: What drives (and doesn’t drive) disagreement over AI risk(04:32) Hypothesis #1 - Disagreements about AI risk persist due to lack of engagement among participants, low quality of participants, or because the skeptic and concerned groups did not understand each others arguments(05:11) Hypothesis #2 - Disagreements about AI risk are explained by different short-term expectations (e.g. about AI capabilities, AI policy, or other factors that could be observed by 2030)(07:53) Hypothesis #3 - Disagreements about AI risk are explained by different long-term expectations(10:35) Hypothesis #4 - These groups have fundamental worldview disagreements that go beyond the discussion about AI(11:31) Results: Forecasting methodology(12:15) Broader scientific implications(13:09) Directions for further researchThe original text contained 10 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 11th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/orhjaZ3AJMHzDzckZ/results-from-an-adversarial-collaboration-on-ai-risk-fri Linkpost URL:https://forecastingresearch.org/s/AIcollaboration.pdf --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Note: This post was crossposted from the Open Philanthropy Farm Animal Welfare Research Newsletter by the Forum team, with the author's permission. The author may not see or respond to comments on this post. How factory farmers block progress — and what we can do about it Most people agree that farmed animals deserve better legal protections: 84% of Europeans, 61-80% of Americans, 70% of Brazilians, 51-66% of Chinese, and 52% of Indians agree with some version of that statement. Yet almost all farmed animals globally still lack even the most basic protections. America has about five times more vegetarians than farmers — and many more omnivores who care about farm animals. Yet the farmers wield much more political power. Fully 89% of Europeans think it's important that animals not be kept in individual cages. Yet the European Commission just implicitly sided with the 8% who don’t by shelving [...] --- First published: February 28th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BvXkG3PLfdmvoECFb/this-is-why-we-can-t-have-nice-laws --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This post shares our journey in starting an Effective Altruism (EA) charity/project focused on Mediterranean fish welfare, the challenges we faced, our key learnings, and the reasons behind our decision to conclude the project. Actual research results are published in a Literature review and article. Key points The key points of this post are summarized as follows: We launched a project with the goal of enhancing fish welfare in Mediterranean aquaculture. We chose to limit our project to gathering information and decided against continuing our advocacy efforts after our initial six months. Our strategy, which focused on farmer-friendly outreach, was not effective in engaging farmers. The rationale behind our decision is the recognition that existing organizations are already performing excellent work, and we believe that funders should support these established organizations instead of starting a new one. The support and resources from the Effective Altruism (EA) and [...] ---Outline:(00:27) Key points(01:48) Personal/Project background(03:01) Why work on Mediterranean fish welfare?(07:07) Project plans and initial work(11:03) Initial work(13:47) Farmer outreach(20:45) Wrapping up the project(22:30) Other takeaways from starting a project(24:48) Resources for launching a new charityThe original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 26th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/z59wybc56FCAysrAe/how-we-started-our-own-ea-charity-and-why-we-decided-to-wrap --- 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.

Epistemic status: the stories here are all as true as possible from memory, but my memory is so so.An AI made this This is going to be big It's late Summer 2017. I am on a walk in the Mendip Hills. It's warm and sunny and the air feels fresh. With me are around 20 other people from the Effective Altruism London community. We’ve travelled west for a retreat to discuss how to help others more effectively with our donations and careers. As we cross cow field after cow field, I get talking to one of the people from the group I don’t know yet. He seems smart, and cheerful. He tells me that he is an AI researcher at Google DeepMind. He explains how he is thinking about how to make sure that any powerful AI system actually does what we want it to. I ask him if [...] ---Outline:(00:16) This is going to be big(01:21) This is going to be bad(02:44) It's a long way off though(03:50) This is fine(05:10) It's probably something else in your life(06:15) No-one in my org puts money in their pension(07:16) Doom-vibes(08:45) Maths might help(10:28) A problem shared is…(12:36) Hope--- First published: February 16th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YScdhSQBhkxpfcF3t/no-one-in-my-org-puts-money-in-their-pension Linkpost URL:https://seekingtobejolly.substack.com/p/no-one-in-my-org-puts-money-in-their --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.