For global poverty, there’ll be a great new option released later this year: an updated 10th anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save coming out in Q4. There will be updated numbers and examples, two new forewords, and increased emphasis on specific calls to action meant for a broad audience (e.g. initially asking people to make a recurring donation vs. a substantial pledge).
The price is also right, as we’ll be able to distribute free copies of the e-book (which will have links so people can take action more easily) and audiobook. The audiobook will have chapters read by celebrity narrators; this isn’t the time or place to list people involved in the project, but they’ll be a great credibility boost.
A lot of EA origin stories start with the first version of TLYCS. We’re about to have a chance to distribute a new and improved version to a much wider audience, and we hope the EA community will help spread it far and wide.
(I work for TLYCS the nonprofit, which is producing and promoting TLYCS the book.)
Strongly upvoted. It’s not clear to me introducing people to EA through books is the best way to go. I think if people first find EA by other means, and it appeals to them, giving books to people who initially find EA appealing could be a better way to get them to stick around. I think having free ebooks like this is something great to have to introduce to people who first become cognizant of EA. That it’s a free ebook that doesn’t have to try to strike some perfect balance between different causes makes it easier for people who just want to learn about one thing at a time. I wish more dedicated EA organizations did something like this.
The only other EA-aligned organization I’m aware who does something similar is MIRI. A lot of the books they release are way too long for most people, or aren’t as directly related to AI alignment. Smarter Than Us by Stuart Armstrong is freely available online as an ebook through MIRI, and fits the bill though.
For global poverty, there’ll be a great new option released later this year: an updated 10th anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save coming out in Q4. There will be updated numbers and examples, two new forewords, and increased emphasis on specific calls to action meant for a broad audience (e.g. initially asking people to make a recurring donation vs. a substantial pledge).
The price is also right, as we’ll be able to distribute free copies of the e-book (which will have links so people can take action more easily) and audiobook. The audiobook will have chapters read by celebrity narrators; this isn’t the time or place to list people involved in the project, but they’ll be a great credibility boost.
A lot of EA origin stories start with the first version of TLYCS. We’re about to have a chance to distribute a new and improved version to a much wider audience, and we hope the EA community will help spread it far and wide.
(I work for TLYCS the nonprofit, which is producing and promoting TLYCS the book.)
Strongly upvoted. It’s not clear to me introducing people to EA through books is the best way to go. I think if people first find EA by other means, and it appeals to them, giving books to people who initially find EA appealing could be a better way to get them to stick around. I think having free ebooks like this is something great to have to introduce to people who first become cognizant of EA. That it’s a free ebook that doesn’t have to try to strike some perfect balance between different causes makes it easier for people who just want to learn about one thing at a time. I wish more dedicated EA organizations did something like this.
The only other EA-aligned organization I’m aware who does something similar is MIRI. A lot of the books they release are way too long for most people, or aren’t as directly related to AI alignment. Smarter Than Us by Stuart Armstrong is freely available online as an ebook through MIRI, and fits the bill though.