EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)

Forethought[1] is a new AI macrostrategy research group cofounded by Max Dalton, Will MacAskill, Tom Davidson, and Amrit Sidhu-Brar. We are trying to figure out how to navigate the (potentially rapid) transition to a world with superintelligent AI systems. We aim to tackle the most important questions we can find, unrestricted by the current Overton window. More details on our website. Why we exist We think that AGI might come soon (say, modal timelines to mostly-automated AI R&D in the next 2-8 years), and might significantly accelerate technological progress, leading to many different challenges. We don’t yet have a good understanding of what this change might look like or how to navigate it. Society is not prepared. Moreover, we want the world to not just avoid catastrophe: we want to reach a really great future. We think about what this might be like (incorporating [...] ---Outline:(00:34) Why we exist(01:57) Research(02:00) Research agendas(03:13) Recent work(03:34) Approach(03:37) Comparison to other efforts(04:14) Principles(05:35) What you can do(05:39) Engage with our research(06:08) Apply to work with us(06:25) FundingThe original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 11th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6JnTAifyqz245Kv7S/forethought-a-new-ai-macrostrategy-group --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a Draft Amnesty Week post. Last year, an EA community member who was scoping out some projects related to diversity and inclusion in EA noted that one challenge was not knowing what had been tried before. I drafted this summary but never got it out the door. The atmosphere around DEI interventions, in the US at least, is different than it was when I first drafted this. I’m not intending this as commentary as anything going on currently, but as finally publishing an old draft. The main update I've made is to add some demographic data that recently came out from the 2024 EA Survey. I don’t mean this post as a claim that EAs have done all the right things. I mean it as a historical record so people can better gauge what's been tried over time, what might be worth trying differently, and [...] ---Outline:(01:17) Organizational / program efforts(08:07) Efforts in hiring / staffing at EA orgs(11:58) Other research / content / major discussions in the community(21:40) Demographic trends over time(21:45) Location(22:39) Race(23:28) Gender(24:35) Political views(25:06) Age(25:20) Experiences at eventsThe original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 4th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6FLvBaEwiiqf9JGEJ/history-of-projects-and-trends-on-diversity-in-ea --- 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.

Watching what is happening in the world -- with lots of renegotiation of institutional norms within Western democracies and a parallel fracturing of the post-WW2 institutional order -- I do think we, as a community, should more seriously question our priors on the relative value of surgical/targeted and broad system-level interventions. Speaking somewhat roughly, with EA as a movement coming of age in an era where democratic institutions and the rule-based international order were not fundamentally questioned, it seems easy to underestimate how much the world is currently changing and how much riskier a world of stronger institutional and democratic backsliding and weakened international norms might be. Of course, working on these issues might be intractable and possibly there's nothing highly effective for EAs to do on the margin given much attention to these issues from society at large. So, I am not here to confidently state [...] --- First published: March 9th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MWomDeHBi2D33PzRx/in-a-time-of-rapid-change-we-should-re-examine-system-level --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

By Jim Chapman, Linkedin. TL;DR: In 2023, I was a 57-year-old urban planning consultant and non-profit professional with 30 years of leadership experience. After talking with my son about rationality, effective altruism, and AI risks, I decided to pursue a pivot to existential risk reduction work. The last time I had to apply for a job was in 1994. By the end of 2024, I had spent ~740 hours on courses, conferences, meetings with ~140 people, and 21 job applications. I hope that by sharing my experiences, you can gain practical insights, inspiration, and resources to navigate your career transition, especially for those who are later in their career and interested in making an impact in similar fields. I share my experience in 5 sections - sparks, take stock, start, do, meta-learnings, and next steps. [Note - as of 03/05/2025, I am still pursuing my career shift.] Sparks – [...] ---Outline:(01:16) Sparks - 2022(02:29) Take Stock - 2023(03:36) Start(04:15) Do - 2023 and 2024(05:13) Learn(10:46) Get a Job(14:21) Create a Job(16:49) Contractor(18:16) Meta-Learnings(19:50) Next Steps(20:48) Appendix A - Helpful FeedbackThe original text contained 30 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 4th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/FcKpAGn75pRLsoxjE/from-comfort-zone-to-frontiers-of-impact-pursuing-a-late-1 --- 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 Draft Amnesty Week draft. It may not be polished, up to my usual standards, fully thought through, or fully fact-checked.  Commenting and feedback guidelines: I'm posting this to get it out there. I'd love to see comments that take the ideas forward, but criticism of my argument won't be as useful at this time, in part because I won't do any further work on it. This is a post I drafted in November 2023, then updated for an hour in March 2025. I don’t think I’ll ever finish it so I am just leaving it in this draft form for draft amnesty week (I know I'm late). I don’t think it is particularly well calibrated, but mainly just makes a bunch of points that I haven’t seen assembled elsewhere. Please take it as extremely low-confidence and there being a low-likelihood of this post describing these dynamics perfectly. I’ve [...] ---Outline:(02:45) Deference is everywhere(04:39) Funders often lack information you have access to(08:29) Funders often don't share your values(09:58) Funders have experience in grantmaking. That is different from experience doing the work.(11:48) What can we do to make this better?(12:22) There are lots of issues with over-updating on this!--- First published: March 3rd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/adZEA4SEkab4SZhTx/on-deference-to-funders --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I feel silly writing this up, but it's draft amnesty week. Caveat: I’ve been a visitor to several EA offices but haven’t worked regularly in any of them, and maybe I'm overly nostalgic about reheated felafel. Some EA offices have catered lunch or lunch cooked on the premises every day. This is nice, but not every workplace can afford it. 5+ years ago when everything in EA was lower-budget, the main way EA offices did lunch was to provide sandwich / wrap ingredients. Ops staff would order the groceries, and would put out the spread about 15 minutes before lunchtime and microwave some of the foods. There was a designated time to show up, often 1 pm. This method works pretty well for a crowd because you don’t all have to wait for the microwave. It was pretty flexible for different tastes and diets. People who wanted [...] --- First published: February 28th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EyXWx8stxSzgAMzJX/the-lost-art-of-the-cheap-office-lunch --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

For those in the EA community who may not typically engage with politics/government, this is the time to do so. If you are American and/or based in the U.S., reaching out to lawmakers, supporting organizations that are mobilizing on this issue, and helping amplify the urgency of this crisis can make a difference. Why this matters: Millions of lives are at stake Decades of progress, and prior investment, in global health and wellbeing are at risk Government funding multiplies the impact of philanthropy Where things stand today (February 27, 2025) The Trump Administration's foreign aid freeze has taken a catastrophic turn: rather than complying with a court order to restart paused funding, they have chosen to terminate more than 90% of all USAID grants and contracts. This stunningly reckless decision comes just 30 days into a supposed 90-day review of foreign aid. This will cause a devastating loss [...] ---Outline:(00:43) Where things stand today (February 27, 2025)(03:22) Some of the few lifesaving programs that were terminated are:(04:47) Why this matters for the future of global health and wellbeing(07:03) Your action and engagement is needed NOW--- First published: February 27th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TbZAkjJQn8kPDodXG/the-catastrophic-situation-with-u-s-foreign-aid-just-got --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

The belief that it's preferable for America to develop AGI before China does seems widespread among American effective altruists. Is this belief supported by evidence, or it it just patriotism in disguise? How would you try to convince an open-minded Chinese citizen that it really would be better for America to develop AGI first? Such a person might point out: Over the past 30 years, the Chinese government has done more for the flourishing of Chinese citizens than the American government has done for the flourishing of American citizens. My village growing up lacked electricity, and now I'm a software engineer! Chinese institutions are more trustworthy for promoting the future flourishing of humanity. Commerce in China ditches some of the older ideas of Marxism because it's the means to an end: the China Dream of wealthy communism. As AGI makes China and the world extraordinarily wealthy, we are [...] --- First published: February 22nd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MxPhK4mLRkaFekAmp/how-confident-are-you-that-it-s-preferable-for-america-to --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Note: This started as a quick take, but it got too long so I made it a full post. It's still kind of a rant; a stronger post would include sources and would have gotten feedback from people more knowledgeable than I. But in the spirit of Draft Amnesty Week, I'm writing this in one sitting and smashing that Submit button. Many people continue to refer to companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind as "frontier AI labs". I think we should drop "labs" entirely when discussing these companies, calling them "AI companies"[1] instead. While these companies may have once been primarily research laboratories, they are no longer so. Continuing to call them labs makes them sound like harmless groups focused on pushing the frontier of human knowledge, when in reality they are profit-seeking corporations focused on building products and capturing value in the marketplace. Laboratories do not directly [...] The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 24th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Ap6E2aEFGiHWf5v5x/stop-calling-them-labs --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

My name is Keyvan, and I lead Anima International's work in France. Our organization went through a major transformation in 2024. I want to share that journey with you. Anima International in France used to be known as Assiettes Végétales (‘Plant-Based Plates’). We focused entirely on introducing and promoting vegetarian and plant-based meals in collective catering. Today, as Anima, our mission is to put an end to the use of cages for laying hens. These changes come after a thorough evaluation of our previous campaign, assessing 94 potential new interventions, making several difficult choices, and navigating emotional struggles. We hope that by sharing our experience, we can help others who find themselves in similar situations. So let me walk you through how the past twelve months have unfolded for us. The French team Act One: What we did as Assiettes Végétales Since 2018, we worked with the local [...] ---Outline:(01:13) Act One: What we did as Assiettes Végétales(03:55) Act Two: The moment we realized we needed to measure our impact more precisely(05:12) Act Three: The evaluation(07:23) Act Four: Ending our previous campaign(09:09) Act Five: Searching for a new intervention(11:30) Act Six: The struggle to choose(14:11) Act Seven: The strengths of the cage-free campaign(16:34) Conclusion - Where we stand todayThe original text contained 10 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 22nd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/vfADxsPECqcbd3vs6/ditching-what-we-are-good-at-a-change-of-course-for-anima --- 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.