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Sam Altman has said he thinks that developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to human extinction, but OpenAI is trying to build it ASAP. Why?

The common story for how AI could overpower humanity involves an “intelligence explosion,” where an AI system becomes smart enough to further improve its capabilities, bootstrapping its way to superintelligence. Even without any kind of recursive self-improvement, some AI safety advocates argue that a large enough number of copies of a genuinely human-level AI system could pose serious problems for humanity. (I discuss this idea in more detail in my recent Jacobin cover story.)

Some people think the transition from human-level AI to superintelligence could happen in a matter of months, weeks, days, or even hours. The faster the takeoff, the more dangerous, the thinking goes.

Sam Altman, circa February 2023, agrees [...]

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First published:

February 10th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/vBjSyNNnmNtJvmdAg/sam-altman-s-chip-ambitions-undercut-openai-s-safety

Linkpost URL:
https://garrisonlovely.substack.com/p/sam-altmans-chip-ambitions-undercut

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

It is with great sadness that we share with you the passing of our fellow community member and beloved friend Mathilde Danès, at age 29.

A dedicated EA, animal advocate, and children's rights supporter, Mathilde had discovered the effective altruism community in 2016-2017, and the farm animal advocacy movement not long after. In 2018, she co-founded a local EA chapter in Lille, where she then lived. Other notable accomplishments of hers, among the many altruistic actions she took, include catering for several animal advocacy and EA events in France between 2020 and 2023, as well as co-organizing the 2022 edition of the Estivales de la question animale, an annual French-speaking effective animal advocacy summit.

With steadfast sentientist and antinatalist beliefs, she was particularly dedicated to the idea of reducing suffering whenever possible. Over the course of her advocacy years, she strived to live her life in accordance with [...]

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First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CeCKGfDzYsrvhJPFa/mathilde-danes-1994-2024

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

It is with great sadness that we share with you the passing of our fellow community member and beloved friend Mathilde Danès, at age 29.

A dedicated EA, animal advocate, and children's rights supporter, Mathilde had discovered the effective altruism community in 2016-2017, and the farm animal advocacy movement not long after. In 2018, she co-founded a local EA chapter in Lille, where she then lived. Other notable accomplishments of hers, among the many altruistic actions she took, include catering for several animal advocacy and EA events in France between 2020 and 2023, as well as co-organizing the 2022 edition of the Estivales de la question animale, an annual French-speaking effective animal advocacy summit.

With steadfast sentientist and antinatalist beliefs, she was particularly dedicated to the idea of reducing suffering whenever possible. Over the course of her advocacy years, she strived to live her life in accordance with [...]

---

First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CeCKGfDzYsrvhJPFa/mathilde-danes-1994-2024

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I'm posting this as part of the Forum's Benjamin Lay Day celebration — consider writing a reflection of your own! The “official dates” for this reflection are February 8 - 15 (but you can write about this topic whenever you want).

I've cross-posted this to my substack, Raising Dust, where I sometimes write less EA Forum-y content.

TL;DR: 

• Tragic beliefs are beliefs that make the world seem worse, and give us partial responsibility for it. These are beliefs such as: “insect suffering matters” or “people dying of preventable diseases could be saved by my donations”.
• Sometimes, to do good, we need to accept tragic beliefs. 
• We need to find ways to stay open to these beliefs in a healthy way. I outline two approaches, pragmatism and righteousness, which help, but can both be carried to excess.

Why I ignored insects for so long

I’ve been trying not to [...]

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Outline:

(00:37) Why I ignored insects for so long

(03:06) What is a tragic belief?

(03:46) How can we open ourselves up to tragic beliefs?

(04:00) Opportunity framing, or pragmatism

(06:02) The joy in righteousness

The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dy5h9Ly8osZEiFkru/tragic-beliefs

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I'm posting this as part of the Forum's Benjamin Lay Day celebration — consider writing a reflection of your own! The “official dates” for this reflection are February 8 - 15 (but you can write about this topic whenever you want).

TL;DR: 

• Tragic beliefs are beliefs that make the world seem worse, and give us partial responsibility for it. These are beliefs such as: “insect suffering matters” or “people dying of preventable diseases could be saved by my donations”.
• Sometimes, to do good, we need to accept tragic beliefs. 
• We need to find ways to stay open to these beliefs in a healthy way. I outline two approaches, pragmatism and righteousness, which help, but can both be carried to excess.

Why I ignored insects for so long

I’ve been trying not to think about insects for a while. My diet is vegan, and sometimes I think of myself as [...]

---

Outline:

(00:19) Why I ignored insects for so long

(02:42) What is a tragic belief?

(03:21) How can we open ourselves up to tragic beliefs?

(03:34) Opportunity framing, or pragmatism

(05:33) The joy in righteousness

The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dy5h9Ly8osZEiFkru/tragic-beliefs

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

TLDR: Given Charity Entrepreneurship's recent scaling, we are changing our brand to call our extended ecosystem “Ambitious Impact (AIM).” Our new AIM umbrella brand will include the classic CE program as well as recent additional programs connected to grantmaking, research, and effective giving. We are also planning to launch new programs soon. We feel AIM being able to create onramps for other career paths (similar to what we have done for nonprofit entrepreneurship) is the most plausible way of doubling our impact.

A quick history of Charity Entrepreneurship

• Inspired by the early success of a few nonprofits identified by evaluators such as GiveWell, we decided to take a systematic approach to researching and then launching new impact-focused nonprofits (Charity Science Health, Fortify Health).
• After some initial successes, Charity Entrepreneurship was started in 2018 as a formal Incubation Program to get more field-leading charities started.
• 31 projects were founded [...]

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Outline:

(00:43) A quick history of Charity Entrepreneurship

(02:00) What will AIM look like  going forward

(03:25) Why we are launching AIM

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First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/cpuFnLtppbsLKcbbq/ambitious-impact-aim-a-new-brand-for-charity

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay died exactly 265 years ago today (on February 8, 1759). I’m using the anniversary of his death to reflect on his life and invite you to join me by sharing your thoughts sometime this week.

Lay was a radical anti-slavery advocate and an important figure in the Quaker abolitionist movement. He's been described as a moral weirdo; besides viewing slavery as a great sin, he opposed the death penalty, was vegetarian, believed that men and women were equal in the eyes of God, and more. He didn’t hide his views and was known for his “guerrilla theater” protests, which included splashing fake blood on slave-owners and forcing people to step over him as they exited a meeting. Expulsion from various communities, ridicule for his beliefs or appearance (he had dwarfism), and the offended sensibilities of those around him didn’t seem to seriously slow him down.

[...]

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Outline:

(01:37) Protests against slavery: shocking people into awareness

(05:55) Life

(10:57) Role in the broader abolition movement

(13:10) Concluding notes

The original text contained 13 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

February 8th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dM93vHvLTgpk8pLSX/celebrating-benjamin-lay-died-on-this-day-265-years-ago

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Chris Anderson, Head of TED, has just released a new book called Infectious Generosity, which has a whole chapter that encourages readers to take the Giving What We Can Pledge! He has also taken the Giving What We Can Pledge with the new wealth option to give the greater of 10% of income or 2.5% of wealth each year.

This inspiring book is a guide to making Infectious Generosity become a global movement to build a hopeful future. Chris offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts and to use the Internet to give them self-replicating, potentially world-changing, impact.

Here's a quick excerpt from the book:

“The more I’ve thought about generosity, the impact it can have, and the joy it can bring, the more determined I’ve become that it be an absolute core part of my identity.

Jacqueline's work [...]

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First published:

January 25th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/FWbaqM5PaFfrfAxaS/gwwc-pledge-featured-in-new-book-from-head-of-ted-chris

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Chris Anderson, Head of TED, has just released a new book called Infectious Generosity, which has a whole chapter that encourages readers to take the Giving What We Can Pledge! He has also taken the Giving What We Can Pledge with the new wealth option to give the greater of 10% of income or 2.5% of wealth each year.

This inspiring book is a guide to making Infectious Generosity become a global movement to build a hopeful future. Chris offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts and to use the Internet to give them self-replicating, potentially world-changing, impact.

Here's a quick excerpt from the book:

“The more I’ve thought about generosity, the impact it can have, and the joy it can bring, the more determined I’ve become that it be an absolute core part of my identity.

Jacqueline's work as a [...]

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First published:

January 25th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/FWbaqM5PaFfrfAxaS/gwwc-pledge-featured-in-new-book-from-head-of-ted-chris

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Charity Entrepreneurship is running a second edition of our Research Training Program (RTP) – a program designed to equip participants with the tools and skills needed to identify, compare, and recommend the most effective charities and interventions.

In this post, we discuss possible long-term career paths for researchers and a gap assessment of what skills people might want to prioritize to pursue those. This discussion may be helpful for people considering the RTP program or those more generally wanting to find other ways of building career capital in research.

These five roles are based on what we think are potential placements or jobs for our first cohort in the RTP. We have made these all a bit more clichéd and separate than they are – in practice, there is a lot of overlap and nuance among them, and a successful research career often involves aspects from all these role [...]

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Outline:

(01:41) Role: Monitoring and Evaluation (MandE) for a High-Impact Organization

(04:01) Role: Researcher in a Grantmaking Role / for a Foundation

(05:40) Role: Charity Evaluation Staff

(07:10) Role: Direct Research (such as academic, think tank, or EA meta)

(08:50) Role: Charity Founding (example: CE Incubation Program)

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First published:

January 23rd, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EyedeQmoXGWbKRoxh/5-possibly-impactful-career-paths-for-researchers

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.