EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

Cross-posted from my personal notes. I'm sharing this because I think the EA/AI safety community needs to hear it, and because I've been living it.

I lead AI safety work in Nigeria. When I tell people this, the most common reaction is a polite pause , the kind that says: that's interesting, but is that really AI safety?

I want to argue that it is. And that the gap it represents is one of the most neglected problems in the entire AI safety ecosystem.

The Situation on the Ground

I'm based in Ibadan, Nigeria. I am part of the AI Safety Fundamentals: AI Governance cohort for Nigeria under AI Safety Nigeria, and I hold an AI Lead appointment under the ITU — the UN's agency for ICT. In my day-to-day work, I deploy AI systems in low-resource healthcare settings, build multilingual NLP tools for communities that global AI largely ignores, and try to translate AI safety discourse into something meaningful for African researchers and policymakers.

Here's what I observe from that vantage point:

The global AI safety community is, with very few exceptions, a Western conversation. Its canonical texts were written in Oxford and Berkeley. Its conferences happen in [...]

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Outline:

(00:42) The Situation on the Ground

(02:19) Why This Is an AI Safety Problem, Not Just an AI for Good Problem

(05:15) What Im Actually Doing About It

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First published:

March 2nd, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TzPwowQL3qH4EHYbt/the-ai-safety-conversation-is-missing-1-4-billion-people

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post.

Major food companies in the UK, including KFC, Nando's, Wagamama, and Burger King, have dropped their pledge to improve the welfare of chickens.

The pledge in question is the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a six-point welfare initiative that corporations can voluntarily sign up to implement. Arguably, the most notable parts of the pledge are the creation of a maximum stocking density of 30kg/m2 or less, compared to the current UK standard of 39kg/m2, and the transition to slower-growing breeds of broiler chickens.

What implications does this kind of thing have for the cost-effectiveness estimates of charities like The Humane League where putting pressure on corporations to sign pledges to improve welfare is a large part of their work? How common is it for companies that sign these pledges to bail on them, actually?

(this post made from a temporary throwaway account)

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First published:

March 3rd, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AzjB2dLf5i4PhZcMd/kfc-nando-s-wagamama-and-burger-king-drop-pledge-to-improve

Linkpost URL:
https://earthlinged.substack.com/p/kfc-nandos-wagamama-and-burger-king

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post.THL's David and Goliath Story

When I joined The Humane League (THL) back in 2019, I expected them to have thousands of volunteers. After all, THL managed to strong-arm hundreds of major US corporations into adopting cage-free egg policies, creating an industry-level shift[1]. The reality I found was much different. Most of the events I attended had half a dozen protestors, a dozen at most. These numbers were reflected in the protest photos I saw from other cities. Multiplying the number of volunteers at an individual protest by the number of cities with active chapters, you get a figure that comes out to around 100 to 200 active volunteers nationwide[2]. That's fewer people than my high school graduating class.

And it's not like these volunteers are spending significant amounts of time on activism, either. When I started attending THL's protests and participating in their digital campaigns, I quickly found that I could run through all the available actions for the month in a couple of hours. Over the course of a year, these time commitments add up to somewhere between 10 and 20 total hours. To put it in another light, I spent more time last [...]

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Outline:

(00:12) THLs David and Goliath Story

(02:06) The Anatomy of Pressure Activism

(07:56) Implications for the Movement and You

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First published:

March 3rd, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MKsh838GuSdQYM3g6/the-200-person-revolution

Linkpost URL:
https://thechickencoup.substack.com/p/the-200-person-revolution

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

TLDR: Welfare interventions in aquaculture don't reliably transfer across species, so each species requires independent research and implementation. I introduce "target populations" as a unit of analysis to quantify how many groups exist. From 2000 to 2023, the number of species comprising 85% of aquaculture production grew from 14 to 22. This means the structural cost of covering the same share of the industry has grown substantially, independent of how well any single intervention performs. This is a portfolio problem, not an intervention problem, and many major producing countries are trending towards further fragmentation.

Summary

In terrestrial agriculture, one species (the domestic chicken) accounts for 89% of all farmed vertebrates. That lack of species diversity is part of what made cage-free campaigns scalable and tractable: the same welfare issues recurred across farms, enabling one intervention to address the same problem everywhere, and similar farm contexts made that intervention feasible everywhere.

Aquaculture does not have this structure. 22 species (e.g. Mrigal carp, Atlantic salmon) comprise 85% of farmed aquatic vertebrates, and 260 more account for the rest. This diversity has not consolidated over time. The number of species comprising the top 85% of production has increased from 14 to 22 [...]

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Outline:

(00:53) Summary

(03:38) What is a target population?

(04:06) Species distance is one dimension

(06:15) Other dimensions matter too

(07:04) Example: sea lice in Atlantic Salmon

(08:29) How many target populations are there in aquaculture?

(11:21) Trends in species diversity over time

(11:26) Global Trends

(11:57) Country Trends

(13:10) Fragmentation is a portfolio problem, not an intervention problem

(14:30) Do outcome-based standards sidestep this cost?

(15:51) What this means for the movement

(16:22) Recommendations

(18:54) Author Notes

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First published:

March 3rd, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gs9b8zdZ9oEgsxs9N/aquaculture-fragmentation-is-a-portfolio-problem-ceas-miss

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

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The statement we will be debating for the forum-choice debate week will be based on: "By default, the world where AI goes well for humans will also go well for other sentient beings".

The debate week will be held during the week of March 23 — 29.

This post is primarily to finalise the topic we will be discussing, and to ask for input from the Forum on the exact phrasing. However, I’m sure a bunch of readers who were following the vote for the forum-choice debate week will be wondering — why did the third-place entry win? I’ll address that first.

Why the third place entry won

In the voting post, in a footnote, I wrote: “Again, generic caveat here: there are legal and practical reasons that CEA might want to veto a topic. I personally think this is very unlikely, but we do reserve the right to veto if necessary. In the case of a veto, we'd move to the second highest karma topic.”

Unfortunately, what I thought was unlikely has indeed happened[1]. Extra unfortunately, we have vetoed the first two topics. As with most internal wranglings, there isn’t much that it's rational for me to [...]

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Outline:

(00:43) Why the third place entry won

(01:54) Refining the statement

(02:16) Ambiguities:

(02:52) A few refined versions

(02:57) On the margin, it is better for animals to work on the transition to AGI going well, than directly working on AI for animal welfare

(04:24) Without extra animal-focused work, even aligned superintelligence would be bad for non-human animals

(04:57) AGI which doesnt cause human extinction or disempowerment will value animal welfare

(05:15) Leave your feedback below

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First published:

March 2nd, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/fAXCS6JhyBETGxNtY/help-me-refine-the-forum-s-choice-debate-topic

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a Draft Amnesty Week draft. The idea to write this post came to me on Sunday morning, 1 March (the last day of Draft Amnesty Week). I already had other plans that day, so I wrote this quickly. LLM support may make this look more polished than it actually is.Commenting and feedback guidelines: 
Above all, this is a call for discussion. I structured the argument primarily around animal advocacy (since this is what I know best) but I would love to see the discussion extend to other cause areas as well.

I’m writing in my personal capacity, not on behalf of Animal Advocacy Africa.

TL;DR

Almost all funding for effective animal advocacy in Africa comes from donors in the Global North. That's understandable (and often essential), but we may be underestimating the value and feasibility of cultivating local giving ecosystems in LMICs, including in Africa.

Local donors likely matter for more than just “more money”: they can shift which questions get asked, what feels legitimate, and how resilient a movement is if global attention or funding priorities change.

The issue

I work at Animal Advocacy Africa (AAA), where we help build the effective farmed animal advocacy movement across [...]

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Outline:

(00:18) TL;DR

(00:50) The issue

(01:48) Why this matters

(03:55) This seems tractable

(05:13) A common objection

(06:43) A call for discussion

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First published:

March 1st, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/P9uJL6oG5vCb7Hgua/are-we-underestimating-local-giving-in-lmics

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I wrote a draft on this a long time ago, thought I can publish it during draft amnesty, realized that it's pretty out of date and ended up spending a lot of time improving it. I'm confident about the questions and problems I raise here. I'm much less confident about what should be done about them or specific examples I provide.
These are my personal opinions, it doesn't reflect the opinions of any organizations I'm affiliated with. Thanks to Ben Anderson, Ceren Karabulut and Bahadır Şirin for feedback.

Two-sentence summary: Health progress at scale comes from stronger health systems, and there are probably cost-effective interventions to strengthen health systems in LMICs. EA has engaged little, and late, with finding what those interventions are in my opinion.

Actual Summary

EA has a strong track record of finding, funding, and founding cost-effective delivery NGOs, and has saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the process. It has a weak track record of conducting research, founding organizations, or funding programs aimed at effectively strengthening health systems that fail to serve people who need to be saved by philanthropists.

The historical record suggests that large-scale health gains usually from stronger health systems [...]

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Outline:

(04:54) Section 0. Effective Charity and Effective Development Are Different Activities

(09:09) Section 1: Global Health Reflects the Distinction

(12:30) 2. What I Mean by Health Systems Strengthening

(18:38) 3. EAs Portfolio Converged on a Specific Approach, For Understandable Reasons

(22:58) 4. The USAID Cuts Revealed the Distinction in Practice

(27:48) 4.1: Methodology Interlude: Cost-Effectiveness of Unlocking Government Programs

(30:16) 5. Recent Diversification Is Good, But Came Late and Remains Narrow

(33:32) 6. Why This Gap Persists

(39:16) 7. Some Potential Directions

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First published:

March 1st, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/p7EbDRK4FCs2795uh/effective-charity-effective-development-global-health

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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:
Keep one and delete the rest (or write your own):

1. 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.
2. This draft lacks the polish of a full post, but the content is almost there. The kind of constructive feedback you would normally put on a Forum post is very welcome.
3. This is a Forum post that I wouldn't have posted without the nudge of Draft Amnesty Week. Fire away! (But be nice, as usual)

The simplest way to have more impact across your entire lifespan is to scale up your earnings, but don’t scale up your lifestyle.

This is an “earn to give” strategy, so it should apply to nearly every EA. Even if you are working for an effective cause at an effective organization, you should be earning a living wage that includes enough headroom to tithe. (If you're not, I’m sure folks at the Centre for Effective Altruism would love [...]

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First published:

March 1st, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pjH7XPeHf6feiJCZh/don-t-scale-up-your-lifestyle

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Summary

There is significant pressure in research communities to use LLMs like ChatGPT or Claude for research writing tasks. This includes summarising documents, brainstorming ideas, core writing and grammar / editing.

It has gotten to the point where, if you mention a research idea, people routinely respond "ask Claude," or "ask ChatGPT". The assumption is that researchers should no longer work alone on tasks, and should always work in AI-human teams, where the human takes the back seat.

I argue that LLMs should not be used for any core writing tasks or brainstorming, in any research activity. I'm open to the idea that they should be used to summarise large amounts of information, search queries, data crunching, editing and grammar.

My view comes from seeing firsthand the harms AI writing is causing to researchers. I have directly seen (i) deskilling, (ii) over-reliance, (iii) bias and errors of reasoning, (iv) gradual disempowerment.

I'm also concerned that AI writing distorts the job market, making unqualified candidates seem better than they are, leading to negative hiring outcomes.

Brief Background

AI writing seems like a natural thing to rely on. You can quickly generate ideas, generate drafts and generate feedback. The adoption [...]

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Outline:

(00:11) Summary

(01:25) Brief Background

(02:18) A. Origins of My Concern

(03:40) Risks of Using AI for Research Writing

(05:07) The Groupthink Problem Elaborated

(06:16) A Brief Refutation of Counterarguments:

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First published:

February 27th, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zd3wbCc2Lkt3tqvtn/ai-should-not-be-used-for-research-writing-tasks

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

TL;DR: Define your line that if crossed, you would consider this issue one of (if not the most) pressing issues, or at least pressing enough to warrant some of your time.

I want to start with a clarification that I learned while writing this post. In the United States, charities with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status are permitted to discuss policy and engage in advocacy, but are prohibited from participating in partisan political campaigns. I have also read the EA Forum post Politics on the EA Forums and I believe this post is consistent with those norms. I am not advocating for or against any party, candidate, or electoral campaign. The question I want to raise is broader: whether creeping authoritarianism, anti-fascism, and authoritarian lock-in should be discussed more explicitly in EA spaces as subjects of analysis and concern. Although my own experience is local to me in Canada, the question is clearly relevant to the current situation in the United States and globally.

I’m asking this sincerely: why isn’t anti-fascism a bigger topic at EAG events or on this forum? I was thinking about it while planning my trip to EAG San Francisco 2026. Should I be travelling to [...]

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First published:

March 1st, 2026

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dgnCabfdXy6jv4gDu/why-isn-t-anti-fascism-a-bigger-topic-at-eag-events-or-on

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.