There’s been a bunch of discussion by some people about how FTX led to a decline in EA, not just due to a cut in funding, but also through damage to EA’s reputation.
I’m very curious to understand how this has affected EA community building, in particular, focusing particularly on university community building since this seems to be one of the main pipelines for drawing talent into EA, even more so for people who are willing to shift their careers to maximise their impact. How elite university groups are going is even more relevant since members of these groups due to the talent concentration there.
For people organising or involved in these groups: have you noticed much of a decline? I’m asking both in terms of attendance and in terms of recruiting new members. In Sydney, university groups seem to have had it pretty tough, but a large part of that is a decline in student in-person attendance at university post-pandemic.
I can provide a data point from the Netherlands.
In 2022 there were approximately 291 uni group intro fellowship completions. In 2023 there were approximately 212.
From what I hear from organisers, there is far less interest in EA programmes but a lot of interest in AIS programmes.
Do the intro fellowship completions only include EA Intro Fellowship, not people doing the AI Safety Fundamentals course?
Correct. I’m a co-author on a post on AIS coordination in NL which has some relevant AIS numbers (sorry for not linking, I’m on my phone right now).
Just sending a quick reply—you might find this interesting!