Executive summary: Drawing from personal experience and conversations with other organizers, the author argues that becoming a university EA group organizer is one of the most impactful actions a student can take, both for advancing the EA movement—especially by creating highly engaged future contributors—and for personal development, while acknowledging some uncertainties and trade-offs.
Key points:
Movement building as high-impact leverage: Organizing a university EA group can generate significant counterfactual impact by catalyzing the careers of future high-impact EAs, potentially amounting to tens of millions in net present value.
Neglectedness and succession gaps: Many university EA groups have shrunk or disappeared due to organizer turnover or a shift toward AI safety, creating a need for motivated students to step into leadership or supporting roles.
Tractability and available support: Starting or reviving a university EA group is more feasible than it used to be, with institutional support, funding, and guidance available from the CEA Groups Team.
Personal alignment and skill-building: Leading a group helps prevent value drift, sharpens cause prioritization thinking, and offers rare opportunities in college to build management, accountability, and persuasion skills.
Professional and social upsides: EA organizing serves as a valuable signal for job applications (especially within EA orgs), facilitates networking, and enables friendships with value-aligned peers.
Anticipated objections addressed: The post preemptively considers concerns about AI focus, personal fit, senior year timing, and school-specific challenges, generally concluding that more students are capable of organizing than might initially think so, especially with proper support.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: Drawing from personal experience and conversations with other organizers, the author argues that becoming a university EA group organizer is one of the most impactful actions a student can take, both for advancing the EA movement—especially by creating highly engaged future contributors—and for personal development, while acknowledging some uncertainties and trade-offs.
Key points:
Movement building as high-impact leverage: Organizing a university EA group can generate significant counterfactual impact by catalyzing the careers of future high-impact EAs, potentially amounting to tens of millions in net present value.
Neglectedness and succession gaps: Many university EA groups have shrunk or disappeared due to organizer turnover or a shift toward AI safety, creating a need for motivated students to step into leadership or supporting roles.
Tractability and available support: Starting or reviving a university EA group is more feasible than it used to be, with institutional support, funding, and guidance available from the CEA Groups Team.
Personal alignment and skill-building: Leading a group helps prevent value drift, sharpens cause prioritization thinking, and offers rare opportunities in college to build management, accountability, and persuasion skills.
Professional and social upsides: EA organizing serves as a valuable signal for job applications (especially within EA orgs), facilitates networking, and enables friendships with value-aligned peers.
Anticipated objections addressed: The post preemptively considers concerns about AI focus, personal fit, senior year timing, and school-specific challenges, generally concluding that more students are capable of organizing than might initially think so, especially with proper support.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.