This post lists all the EA-relevant documentaries, movies, and TV series I’ve watched since learning about EA in 2017. This post is inspired by the list MichaelA made for EA-relevant books/audiobooks he found useful.
I’ve consumed a lot of EA-relevant books and podcast episodes, but I’ve also consumed ~30 documentaries, movies, or TV shows that have relevance to effective altruism and a cause or topic within it. For most of these, I specifically watched them because of their relevance to EA.
As such, I’m listing them all below, in roughly descending order of how useful I remember them being to me. For some of these, I include why I found them useful and/or entertaining.
Caveats / notes about the list
Obviously, something I find useful or entertaining might not be useful for or entertaining to you, especially if you have different cause area interests. But I think a lot of EAs would find some of these titles also useful or entertaining.
I’m interested in multiple EA causes, and I wanted to learn about them in an engaging way, so that’s why this list features titles from various causes and topics. This is especially important since I’m a community builder who talks to people with different cause interests.
I also listed at the bottom other films or TV shows that have some relevance to EA, perhaps recommended by other EAs, but I haven’t watched yet.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive. I’d imagine there are ~10-30 other films or TV shows relevant to EA that I might have missed. If there are films or shows you would recommend that I missed and are somewhat relevant to EA, whether for the information in them or their entertainment value, feel free to comment them below!
How I found these titles
I found out about these titles mainly through searching keywords on Netflix about each cause or topic (i.e. “artificial intelligence”), while a few were found by Googling “films about [insert cause/topic]”.
I’ve included below what cause or topics each of these titles fall under. I also include a list at the bottom where I split these films by cause/topic, if you mainly care about watching films on a specific cause or topic.
TV Series (Fiction), 1 season, 10 episodes (~45 mins each)
Topic: AI Safety
Why it was useful: Next is a 2020 sci-fi crime drama TV series that vividly explores what might happen when a big tech company creates a dangerous superintelligence. This was first recommended by another EA I know, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. The show’s creator, Manny Coto, read up a lot on AI safety to create the show. Jaan Tallinn also talked about how he liked the show in our fireside chat in EAGxAsia-Pacific. I was familiar with AI safety already before watching this show, but watching it made it more concrete and memorable on what would happen if a superintelligence is created. Unfortunately, the TV series got cancelled only after 1 season, but the one season is great on its own.
The show is available via YouTube TV for those in the U.S., or those who have a VPN.
Why it was useful: I watched Earthlings already in 2019 before watching this in 2020. But this documentary focused more on the problem of factory farming than Earthlings, and it was eye-opening. Bruce Friedrich from GFI is also interviewed here.
Topics: Global Health and Development, Biosecurity
On Netflix
Why it was useful: I watched this in February 2020, before we had lockdowns in Manila, but when COVID-19 was already affecting other parts of the world. It made me realize the importance of preparing for pandemics, wearing PPEs, and how we’re not prepared for pandemics / epidemics.
Why it was useful: Helped me understand pandemics more and how people and institutions would react. I watched this in February 2020, before COVID-19 forced Manila and many other places around the world into lockdown.
Topics: Global Health and Development, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
on YouTube
Why it was useful: I’m from the Philippines, and this documentary features the current Philippine government’s attacks against the press and its critics, and how the government has used social media to spread disinformation and gain power. I think this film is a Philippine version/counterpart of The Social Dilemma.
Why it was useful: It features the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s work on global health (sanitation and vaccination) and climate change. It’s also cool to just get to know Bill Gates more.
Unnatural Selection(Note: I haven’t finished watching things on this list from 26-30, nor do I recommend them. They were interesting, but I didn’t have a lot of motivation to continue watching them).
Documentary
Topic: Biosecurity
Description: “Pioneers in gene-editing techniques and artificial intelligence confront ethical and technological challenges unlike what humanity has faced before.”
This is a documentary that depicts the story of how Stanislav Petrov averted a possible full-scale nuclear war. I watched about 15 minutes of this only (the exciting parts), but those 15 minutes were cool to watch.
Again, please comment below any films or shows I might have missed! I hope this list is useful for you. Maybe some of these films or shows can help you learn about an EA cause or topic in a more engaging way.
A ranked list of all EA-relevant documentaries, movies, and TV series I’ve watched
This post lists all the EA-relevant documentaries, movies, and TV series I’ve watched since learning about EA in 2017. This post is inspired by the list MichaelA made for EA-relevant books/audiobooks he found useful.
There’s also a similar list for EA-relevant podcasts and YouTube channels, but none yet for EA-relevant films/series (as far as I know). There was a post crowdsourcing for altruistic movie suggestions, but it only got a few answers, so I decided to make this list. (Lewis Bollard wrote a post though with documentaries on farm animal welfare.)
I’ve consumed a lot of EA-relevant books and podcast episodes, but I’ve also consumed ~30 documentaries, movies, or TV shows that have relevance to effective altruism and a cause or topic within it. For most of these, I specifically watched them because of their relevance to EA.
As such, I’m listing them all below, in roughly descending order of how useful I remember them being to me. For some of these, I include why I found them useful and/or entertaining.
Caveats / notes about the list
Obviously, something I find useful or entertaining might not be useful for or entertaining to you, especially if you have different cause area interests. But I think a lot of EAs would find some of these titles also useful or entertaining.
I’m interested in multiple EA causes, and I wanted to learn about them in an engaging way, so that’s why this list features titles from various causes and topics. This is especially important since I’m a community builder who talks to people with different cause interests.
I also listed at the bottom other films or TV shows that have some relevance to EA, perhaps recommended by other EAs, but I haven’t watched yet.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive. I’d imagine there are ~10-30 other films or TV shows relevant to EA that I might have missed. If there are films or shows you would recommend that I missed and are somewhat relevant to EA, whether for the information in them or their entertainment value, feel free to comment them below!
How I found these titles
I found out about these titles mainly through searching keywords on Netflix about each cause or topic (i.e. “artificial intelligence”), while a few were found by Googling “films about [insert cause/topic]”.
I’ve included below what cause or topics each of these titles fall under. I also include a list at the bottom where I split these films by cause/topic, if you mainly care about watching films on a specific cause or topic.
The ranked list (across all topics/causes)
Next
TV Series (Fiction), 1 season, 10 episodes (~45 mins each)
Topic: AI Safety
Why it was useful: Next is a 2020 sci-fi crime drama TV series that vividly explores what might happen when a big tech company creates a dangerous superintelligence. This was first recommended by another EA I know, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. The show’s creator, Manny Coto, read up a lot on AI safety to create the show. Jaan Tallinn also talked about how he liked the show in our fireside chat in EAGxAsia-Pacific. I was familiar with AI safety already before watching this show, but watching it made it more concrete and memorable on what would happen if a superintelligence is created. Unfortunately, the TV series got cancelled only after 1 season, but the one season is great on its own.
The show is available via YouTube TV for those in the U.S., or those who have a VPN.
Eating Animals
Documentary
Topic: Animal Welfare
Why it was useful: I watched Earthlings already in 2019 before watching this in 2020. But this documentary focused more on the problem of factory farming than Earthlings, and it was eye-opening. Bruce Friedrich from GFI is also interviewed here.
Pandemic
Documentary
Topics: Global Health and Development, Biosecurity
On Netflix
Why it was useful: I watched this in February 2020, before we had lockdowns in Manila, but when COVID-19 was already affecting other parts of the world. It made me realize the importance of preparing for pandemics, wearing PPEs, and how we’re not prepared for pandemics / epidemics.
Contagion
Movie
Topic: Biosecurity
On Netflix
Why it was useful: Helped me understand pandemics more and how people and institutions would react. I watched this in February 2020, before COVID-19 forced Manila and many other places around the world into lockdown.
AlphaGo
Documentary
Topic: AI Safety
on YouTube
Why it was useful: It’s a cool story of how DeepMind developed AlphaGo, and how it was able to beat a top Go player, Lee Sedol.
The Social Dilemma
Documentary
Topics: Existential Risk, Improving Institutional-Decision Making, Mental Health
on Netflix
A Thousand Cuts
Documentary
Topics: Global Health and Development, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
on YouTube
Why it was useful: I’m from the Philippines, and this documentary features the current Philippine government’s attacks against the press and its critics, and how the government has used social media to spread disinformation and gain power. I think this film is a Philippine version/counterpart of The Social Dilemma.
The Great Hack
Documentary
Topics: Social Media, Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
on Netflix
Inside Bill’s Brain
Documentary − 3 episodes (~52 mins each)
Global Health and Development, Climate Change
Why it was useful: It features the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s work on global health (sanitation and vaccination) and climate change. It’s also cool to just get to know Bill Gates more.
On Netflix
Black Mirror
TV Series
Topics: AI, Social Media, Technology
on Netflix
Earthlings
Documentary
Topic: Animal Welfare
available on Vimeo for free
Transcendence
Movie
Topic: AI Safety
on Netflix
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
Documentary
Topic: Hong Kong, China, Great Power Conflict
on Netflix
The Edge of Democracy
Documentary
Topic: Brazil’s Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
on Netflix
Knock Down The House
Documentary
Topic: U.S. Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
on Netflix
Snowden
Movie
Topic: Surveillance
on Netflix
A Life on our Planet
Documentary
Topics: Climate Change, Wild Animal Welfare
on Netflix
The White Helmets
Documentary
Topic: Syrian Conflict, Global Development
on Netflix
An Inconvenient Sequel
Documentary
Topic: Climate Change
on Netflix
I, Robot
Movie
Topic: AI Safety
on Netflix
House of Cards
TV Series
Topic: U.S. Politics
on Netflix
I didn’t finish this—I watched ~5 episodes of it, then just read the synopsis/plot
A Plastic Ocean
Documentary
Topics: Climate Change, Environmental Degradation
on Netflix
The Good Place
TV Series
Topic: Philosophy / Moral Philosophy
on Netflix
Haven’t finished this yet—I think I watched the first 2 seasons only
Minimalism
Documentary
Topic: Minimalism
on Netflix
Forks Over Knives
Documentary
Topic: Animal Welfare, Plant-Based Proteins
Unnatural Selection (Note: I haven’t finished watching things on this list from 26-30, nor do I recommend them. They were interesting, but I didn’t have a lot of motivation to continue watching them).
Documentary
Topic: Biosecurity
Description: “Pioneers in gene-editing techniques and artificial intelligence confront ethical and technological challenges unlike what humanity has faced before.”
on Netflix
Haven’t finished this yet, just watched 1-2 episodes. Kevin Esvelt, biologist from MIT, is featured here, and he has given talks in EA Globals before.
Salvation
TV Series
Topic: Existential Risk and Asteroids
on Netflix
Didn’t finish this, just watched 2-3 episodes and read the plot
I Am Mother
Movie
Topic: AI Safety, Existential Risk
on Netflix
Haven’t finished this yet, am only 1 hour through it
Better Than Us
TV Series
Topic: AI Safety
on Netflix
Didn’t finish this, just watched 1 episode so far
Biohackers
TV Series
Topic: Relevant to Biosecurity
on Netflix
Didn’t finish this, just watched 1-2 episodes and read the plot
The list split by cause/topic, and ranked within the cause/topic
Some of the films are put in more than one cause/topic.
AI Safety / Risks
Next
AlphaGo
Transcendence
The Social Dilemma
I, Robot
I Am Mother
Better Than Us
Animal Welfare
Eating Animals
Earthlings
Forks Over Knives
A Life on our Planet
Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness
Pandemic
Contagion
Unnatural Selection
Biohackers
Climate Change
Inside Bill’s Brain
A Life on our Planet
An Inconvenient Sequel
A Plastic Ocean
Global Health and Development
Inside Bill’s Brain
The White Helmets
Improving Institutional Decision-Making / Avoiding Great Power Conflict / Politics
The Great Hack
The Social Dilemma
A Thousand Cuts
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
The Edge of Democracy
Knock Down The House
Others
Black Mirror
Snowden
House of Cards
The Good Place
Minimalism
Salvation
Other titles I haven’t watched, but are somewhat EA-relevant
The Man Who Saved the World
Documentary
Topic: Nuclear Warfare
on YouTube
This is a documentary that depicts the story of how Stanislav Petrov averted a possible full-scale nuclear war. I watched about 15 minutes of this only (the exciting parts), but those 15 minutes were cool to watch.
Okja
Movie
Topic: Animal Welfare
on Netflix
Bending the Arc
Documentary
Topic: Global Health and Development
on Netflix
Carnage
Mockumentary
Topic: Animal Welfare
The Game Changers
Documentary
Topic: Animal Welfare, Plant-Based Diets
on Netflix
Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
Documentary
Topic: Psychedelics
on Netflix
Spycraft
Documentary
Topic: Surveillance
on Netflix
The Minimalists: Less is Now
Documentary
Topic: Minimalism
on Netflix
Connected
Documentary Series
Topics: Nuclear Warfare, Surveillance
on Netflix
Again, please comment below any films or shows I might have missed! I hope this list is useful for you. Maybe some of these films or shows can help you learn about an EA cause or topic in a more engaging way.