the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University has shut down as of July. More information, publication list and additional groups on website. Surprised this hasn’t been brought up given how important GPI was in establishing EA as a legitimate academic research space. By my count, barring Trajan House, it now appears that EA has officially been annexed from Oxford University. This feels like a significant change post-FTX—I see pros and cons to not being tied to one university. Thoughts?
edited: to clarify I meant the university not the city
By my count, barring Trajan House, it now appears that EA has officially been annexed from Oxford
Do you mean Oxford University? That could be right (though a little strong, I’m sure it has its sympathisers). Noting that Oxford is still one of the cities (towns?) with the highest density of EAs in the world. People here are also very engaged (i.e. probably work in the space).
By my count, barring Trajan House, it now appears that EA has officially been annexed from Oxford.
Forethought, AI Gov at Oxford Martin, and EA Oxford operate out of Oxford. I am sure Uehiro has EA/adjacent philosophers? GPI’s closure is a shame, of course.
Forethought appears to have spun out and become a separate organization, Oxford Martin AIGI does have a handful of people who were affiliated with the former Future of Humanity Institute, but the OM AIGI itself is not directly affiliated with EA. Yes the college chapter EA Oxford is still running, but I meant professional working groups (sorry if that wasn’t clear).
If you would like to receive email updates about any future research endeavours that continue the mission of the Global Priorities Institute, you can also sign up here.
I signed up for the mailing list! Is there any other way to support research similar to GPI’s work—for instance, would it make sense to donate to Forethought Foundation?
That’s great Eevee! Forethought has shifted to focusing on AGI (so yes, I’m sure they need support, but it isn’t doing work like GPI, just to be clear). There is a list at the bottom of the page of other organizations but none of them work directly on the philosophical approach to cause and resource prioritization—which is what made GPI so valuable to the movement. My best recommendation would be to broadly support groups like Givewell, Giving What We Can and the Life You Can Save since they do some level of research (really all groups do). You could also follow specific researchers work and reach out directly to see if they need support.
the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University has shut down as of July. More information, publication list and additional groups on website. Surprised this hasn’t been brought up given how important GPI was in establishing EA as a legitimate academic research space. By my count, barring Trajan House, it now appears that EA has officially been annexed from Oxford University. This feels like a significant change post-FTX—I see pros and cons to not being tied to one university. Thoughts?
edited: to clarify I meant the university not the city
Do you mean Oxford University? That could be right (though a little strong, I’m sure it has its sympathisers). Noting that Oxford is still one of the cities (towns?) with the highest density of EAs in the world. People here are also very engaged (i.e. probably work in the space).
Yes, sorry I meant the university. Thanks for including the charts, I always love to see the data!
Forethought, AI Gov at Oxford Martin, and EA Oxford operate out of Oxford. I am sure Uehiro has EA/adjacent philosophers? GPI’s closure is a shame, of course.
Forethought appears to have spun out and become a separate organization, Oxford Martin AIGI does have a handful of people who were affiliated with the former Future of Humanity Institute, but the OM AIGI itself is not directly affiliated with EA. Yes the college chapter EA Oxford is still running, but I meant professional working groups (sorry if that wasn’t clear).
I signed up for the mailing list! Is there any other way to support research similar to GPI’s work—for instance, would it make sense to donate to Forethought Foundation?
That’s great Eevee! Forethought has shifted to focusing on AGI (so yes, I’m sure they need support, but it isn’t doing work like GPI, just to be clear). There is a list at the bottom of the page of other organizations but none of them work directly on the philosophical approach to cause and resource prioritization—which is what made GPI so valuable to the movement. My best recommendation would be to broadly support groups like Givewell, Giving What We Can and the Life You Can Save since they do some level of research (really all groups do). You could also follow specific researchers work and reach out directly to see if they need support.