“ As more attention and resources are allocated to long termist causes, especially AI and biosecurity, as a feature of historical disparity in development and opportunity, it becomes less likely that aspiring EAs from around the world can contribute cost effectively to the EA community’s work either directly or in a field-building capacity.”
I don’t think this is true for biosecurity. EA Biosecurity people talk about Aum Shinrikyo’s attacks in Japan all the time—Japanese EAs are much better placed to improve biosecurity and biosafety in Japan than EAs in the USA.
Also, with regards to “more attention and resources going towards AI and biosecurity”, there are 3 important ways this could change, which we should keep in mind:
A lot of these resources are focused on policy work. Successful policy work could divert a lot of government attention and resources to these areas, making them suddenly a lot less pressing.
This flow of EA resources is primarily the result of the views of a few people at Open Phil. Changes in staff at Open Phil could have a big impact on this resource allocation.
EA could attract a large funder or produce another very rich earning-to-giver who is less longtermist.
“ As more attention and resources are allocated to long termist causes, especially AI and biosecurity, as a feature of historical disparity in development and opportunity, it becomes less likely that aspiring EAs from around the world can contribute cost effectively to the EA community’s work either directly or in a field-building capacity.”
I don’t think this is true for biosecurity. EA Biosecurity people talk about Aum Shinrikyo’s attacks in Japan all the time—Japanese EAs are much better placed to improve biosecurity and biosafety in Japan than EAs in the USA.
Also, with regards to “more attention and resources going towards AI and biosecurity”, there are 3 important ways this could change, which we should keep in mind:
A lot of these resources are focused on policy work. Successful policy work could divert a lot of government attention and resources to these areas, making them suddenly a lot less pressing.
This flow of EA resources is primarily the result of the views of a few people at Open Phil. Changes in staff at Open Phil could have a big impact on this resource allocation.
EA could attract a large funder or produce another very rich earning-to-giver who is less longtermist.