I am also a fan of diversifying EA in general, starting more spin-off movements (like Progress Studies) and building mini-hubs in more cities. Furthermore, I’m pessimistic about California’s future: I grew up here, but I’m moving away to Colorado later this month because I can’t see a good life for myself in the too-expensive Bay Area.
All that said—if you are a longtermist who thinks that AI risk is the biggest and most pressing X-risk, the case for keeping the primary EA hub in the Bay Area (to influence the top labs which are actually developing AI, and to recruit top tech researchers who can work directly on AI alignment) is totally ironclad IMO, and it’s important enough to overcome all the familiar complaints about rent, crime, remoteness, etc. I and many other EAs do feel like AI is the most important issue by a noticeable degree, so “there are more cause areas centered on the East Coast” is not worth much to me.
tl;dr, I think we should aim to diversify a little, keeping the Bay Area as the primary hub, just not by such an overwhelming margin.
I am a big fan of living in DC and I think EA should absolutely have a bigger presence there—it should probably be the #2 largest hub.
I am also a fan of diversifying EA in general, starting more spin-off movements (like Progress Studies) and building mini-hubs in more cities. Furthermore, I’m pessimistic about California’s future: I grew up here, but I’m moving away to Colorado later this month because I can’t see a good life for myself in the too-expensive Bay Area.
All that said—if you are a longtermist who thinks that AI risk is the biggest and most pressing X-risk, the case for keeping the primary EA hub in the Bay Area (to influence the top labs which are actually developing AI, and to recruit top tech researchers who can work directly on AI alignment) is totally ironclad IMO, and it’s important enough to overcome all the familiar complaints about rent, crime, remoteness, etc. I and many other EAs do feel like AI is the most important issue by a noticeable degree, so “there are more cause areas centered on the East Coast” is not worth much to me.
tl;dr, I think we should aim to diversify a little, keeping the Bay Area as the primary hub, just not by such an overwhelming margin.