My impression is that PauseAI focusses more on media engagement + protests, which I consider a good but separate thing. Results Australia, as an example, focuses (almost exclusively) on having concerned citizens interacting directly with politicians. Maybe it would be a good thing for orgs to focus on separate things (e.g. for reasons of perception + specialisation). I lean in this direction but remain pretty unsure.
Founder of PauseAI here. I know our protests are the most visible, but they are actually a small portion of what we do. People always talk about the protests, but I think we actually had most results through invisible volunteer lobbying. Personally, I’ve spent way more time sending emails to politicians and journalists, meeting them and informing them of the issues. I wrote an Email Builder to get volunteers to write to their representatives, gave multiple workshops on doing so, and have seen many people (including you of course!) take action and ask for feedback in the discord.
I think combining both protesting and volunteer lobbying in one org is very powerful. It’s not a new idea of course—orgs like GreenPeace have been using this strategy for decades. The protests create visibility and attention, and the lobbying gives the important people the right background information. The protests encourage more volunteers to join and help out, so we get more volunteer lobbyists! In my experience the protests also help with getting an in with politicians—it creates a recognizable brand that shows you represent a larger group.
My impression is that PauseAI focusses more on media engagement + protests, which I consider a good but separate thing. Results Australia, as an example, focuses (almost exclusively) on having concerned citizens interacting directly with politicians. Maybe it would be a good thing for orgs to focus on separate things (e.g. for reasons of perception + specialisation). I lean in this direction but remain pretty unsure.
Founder of PauseAI here. I know our protests are the most visible, but they are actually a small portion of what we do. People always talk about the protests, but I think we actually had most results through invisible volunteer lobbying. Personally, I’ve spent way more time sending emails to politicians and journalists, meeting them and informing them of the issues. I wrote an Email Builder to get volunteers to write to their representatives, gave multiple workshops on doing so, and have seen many people (including you of course!) take action and ask for feedback in the discord.
I think combining both protesting and volunteer lobbying in one org is very powerful. It’s not a new idea of course—orgs like GreenPeace have been using this strategy for decades. The protests create visibility and attention, and the lobbying gives the important people the right background information. The protests encourage more volunteers to join and help out, so we get more volunteer lobbyists! In my experience the protests also help with getting an in with politicians—it creates a recognizable brand that shows you represent a larger group.