Thanks so much, Will! (Speaking just for myself) I really liked and agree with much of your post, and am glad you wrote it!
I agree with the core argument that there’s a huge and very important role for EA-style thinking on the questions related to making the post-AGI transition go well; I hope EA thought and values play a huge role in research on these questions, both because I think EAs are among the people most likely to address these questions rigorously (and they are hugely neglected) and because I think EA-ish values are likely to come to particularly compassionate and open-minded proposals for action on these questions.
Specifically, you cite my post
“EA and Longtermism: not a crux for saving the world”, and my quote
I think that recruiting and talent pipeline work done by EAs who currently prioritize x-risk reduction (“we” or “us” in this post, though I know it won’t apply to all readers) should put more emphasis on ideas related to existential risk, the advent of transformative technology, and the ‘most important century’ hypothesis, and less emphasis on effective altruism and longtermism, in the course of their outreach.
And say
This may have been a good recommendation at the time; but in the last three years the pendulum has heavily swung the other way, sped along by the one-two punch of the FTX collapse and the explosion of interest and progress in AI, and in my view has swung too far.
I agree with you that in the intervening time, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and am glad to see your pushback.
One thing I want to clarify (that I expect you to agree with):
There’s little in the way of public EA debate; the sense one gets is that most of the intellectual core have “abandoned” EA
I think it’s true that much of the intellectual core has stopped focusing on EA as the path to achieving EA goals. I think that most of the intellectual core continues to hold EA values and pursue the goals they pursue for EA reasons (trying to make the world better as effectively as possible, e.g. by trying to reduce AI risk), they’ve just updated against that path involving a lot of focus on EA itself. This makes me feel a lot better about both that core and EA than if much of the old core had decided to leave their EA values and goals behind, and I wanted to share it because I don’t think it’s always very externally transparent how many people who have been quieter in EA spaces lately are still working hard and with dedication towards making the world better, as they did in the past.
I agree with you that in the intervening time, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and am glad to see your pushback.
Thank you for clarifying—that’s really helpful to hear!
”I think that most of the intellectual core continues to hold EA values and pursue the goals they pursue for EA reasons (trying to make the world better as effectively as possible, e.g. by trying to reduce AI risk), they’ve just updated against that path involving a lot of focus on EA itself”
And I agree strongly with this — and I think if it’s a shame if people interpret the latter as meaning “abandoning EA” rather than “rolling up our sleeves and getting on with object-level work.”
Thanks so much, Will! (Speaking just for myself) I really liked and agree with much of your post, and am glad you wrote it!
I agree with the core argument that there’s a huge and very important role for EA-style thinking on the questions related to making the post-AGI transition go well; I hope EA thought and values play a huge role in research on these questions, both because I think EAs are among the people most likely to address these questions rigorously (and they are hugely neglected) and because I think EA-ish values are likely to come to particularly compassionate and open-minded proposals for action on these questions.
Specifically, you cite my post
“EA and Longtermism: not a crux for saving the world”, and my quote
And say
I agree with you that in the intervening time, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and am glad to see your pushback.
One thing I want to clarify (that I expect you to agree with):
I think it’s true that much of the intellectual core has stopped focusing on EA as the path to achieving EA goals. I think that most of the intellectual core continues to hold EA values and pursue the goals they pursue for EA reasons (trying to make the world better as effectively as possible, e.g. by trying to reduce AI risk), they’ve just updated against that path involving a lot of focus on EA itself. This makes me feel a lot better about both that core and EA than if much of the old core had decided to leave their EA values and goals behind, and I wanted to share it because I don’t think it’s always very externally transparent how many people who have been quieter in EA spaces lately are still working hard and with dedication towards making the world better, as they did in the past.
Thank you for clarifying—that’s really helpful to hear!
”I think that most of the intellectual core continues to hold EA values and pursue the goals they pursue for EA reasons (trying to make the world better as effectively as possible, e.g. by trying to reduce AI risk), they’ve just updated against that path involving a lot of focus on EA itself”
And I agree strongly with this — and I think if it’s a shame if people interpret the latter as meaning “abandoning EA” rather than “rolling up our sleeves and getting on with object-level work.”