Stop talking about AI in EA, at least when doing EA outreach. I keep coming across effective altruism proponents claiming that MIRI is a top charity, when they seem to be writing to people who aren’t in the EA community who want to learn more about it. Do they realize that this comes across as very biased? It makes it seem like ‘I know a lot about an organization’ or ‘I have friends in this organization’ are EA criteria. Most importantly, talking about AI in doomsday terms sounds kooky. It stands apart from the usual selections, as it’s one of the few that’s ‘high stakes.’ I rarely see effective altruists working towards environmental, political, anti-nuclear, or space exploration solutions, which I consider of a similar genre. I lose trust in an effective altruist’s evaluations when they evaluate MIRI to be an effective charity.
I’ve read a few articles and know a few EA people.
Anonymous #3: