But I think the more important question is: what will the ultimate impact on public image be when EA really needs public support (e.g., for AI regulation) against powerful interests (e.g., big tech companies pushing toward AGI) who have every incentive to educate (fairly or otherwise) the public about SBF/​EA connections?
Right now, the question has low salience even for the minority who have heard of EA. I’m not sure how well low-salience opinion will correlate to opinion after all sides take their best shots on a high-salience issue.
That is a useful post, thanks. It changes my mind somewhat about EA’s overall reputational damage, but I still think the FTX crisis exploded the self-narrative of ascendancy (both in money and influence), and the prospects have worsened for attracting allies, especially in adversarial environments like politics.
Thanks! You may be interested in my recent post with Emma which found that FTX does not seem to have greatly affected EA’s public image.
But I think the more important question is: what will the ultimate impact on public image be when EA really needs public support (e.g., for AI regulation) against powerful interests (e.g., big tech companies pushing toward AGI) who have every incentive to educate (fairly or otherwise) the public about SBF/​EA connections?
Right now, the question has low salience even for the minority who have heard of EA. I’m not sure how well low-salience opinion will correlate to opinion after all sides take their best shots on a high-salience issue.
That is a useful post, thanks. It changes my mind somewhat about EA’s overall reputational damage, but I still think the FTX crisis exploded the self-narrative of ascendancy (both in money and influence), and the prospects have worsened for attracting allies, especially in adversarial environments like politics.
Yep, FTX’s collapse definitely seems bad for EA!
Is this your own experience, something you are confident of or something you guess? If the first two I might move towards you more.
FWIW I have strong agreement from personal experience