The FCO-DFID merger seems pretty anti-EA to me. The stated motivation was to allow the government to leverage the UK’s aid budget to advance British interests. In contrast, presumably, an independent DFID was more free to pursue poverty allevation and development as an end goal. It’s odd to me that this angle isn’t really discussed in the piece.
I also think it would probably be really bad for Cummings to become associated with EA given that he’s such a controversial and disagreeable person. And while I’ve seen him linked with us multiple times, I can’t actually find any material where he’s discussed, supported, or even mentioned EA.
The FCO-DFID merger seems pretty anti-EA to me. The stated motivation was to allow the government to leverage the UK’s aid budget to advance British interests. In contrast, presumably, an independent DFID was more free to pursue poverty allevation and development as an end goal. It’s odd to me that this angle isn’t really discussed in the piece.
I also think it would probably be really bad for Cummings to become associated with EA given that he’s such a controversial and disagreeable person. And while I’ve seen him linked with us multiple times, I can’t actually find any material where he’s discussed, supported, or even mentioned EA.
Cummings is known to be a fan of Yudkowsky/SSC, which the media tends to lump together with effective altruism. He’s also written about AI safety before.