I have an EA blog!
Trying to figure out how EA can use AI better, both to uplift current orgs and maybe create new tools to positively reshape the world.
Iām really keen to meet people building things with AI, and people interested in making more of that happen within EA. Please have a really low bar for reaching out.
Iām so extremely glad you wrote this! I recently wrapped up a year-long biosecurity project that started with an absolute barebones product demo on a reply to this post from Tessa Alexanian.
I wasnāt planning to work on biosecurity, but at each step of the way it surprised me how, for one of the areas most emphasized by biosecurity prioritization reports (customer screening of DNA orders), at most a handful of people were making it their priority to make progress on it, and many of them on top of a bunch of other demanding high-impact work.
With Hanna we were able to meet a bunch of important people and get their advice simply because they were so excited that someone was actually working on it.
And even if I might not stick to biosec longer-term (AI enablement at non-technical EA orgs feels currently even more neglected!), it was a wondrous learning experience to be in a fast-moving space with clear priorities. In the span of a year I got to see many other people join the space, and learned a lot about strategy and picking angles of attack from seeing times when they quickly got traction on something we had been chewing at for months.
If you like doing stuff and seeing progress and moving fast I heartily recommend sending an email to Ayushmaan or me (alejoacelas@gmail.com) and we can help you figure out how to get started.
Although I am guilty of this myselfāhaving dozens of biosecurity blog post ideas and drafts that I havenāt managed to post.
Why not link to them in a public gdocs with the [UNFINISHED DRAFTS] in the title? Iām quite sure I wouldnāt have posted half the blog posts I have here if I had tried to polish them before releasing them (and many of them still have incomplete sentences and todos for me to edit them!)
Made a first pass of the curriculum! https://āādocs.google.com/āādocument/āād/āā11E7FOKyCIo0ijKI-9ddCErMQhL8GeMbgFGJ7NEZKtTE/āāedit?usp=sharing
Would love for anyone here to comment on their favorite readings from there/āwhich specific readings theyād add
I asked Claude about some options, and previous grants they had funded. Hereās what I got:
EA Infrastructure Fund:
Hear This Idea ā podcast on pressing problems
EA mental health program ā served ~175 EAs
Individual salary ā prioritization research and community building
EA Australia ā stipend for first paid CEO
EA Poland ā effective fundraising platform
Meta Charity Funders:
Giving Multiplier ā donation matching for effective charities
High Impact Athletes ā athletes fundraising for effective charities
One individual ā coordinating EA submissions to UK consultation
EA UK, Indonesia, NZ, Philippines ā national orgs CEA stopped covering
Manifund: regranting platform, good for small weird asks
Also, if someone here has a promising idea and can show that on a short Gdocs you can just ask me for money. I have some, and I can direct you to friends with good judgement who have more.
could you link the blog post as a Google docs here? (could be with access on request if youāre feeling shy).
I might do a first pass of the curriculum on my spare time and Iād love to piggyback on someone elseās previous thinking.
Iād recommend you spend absolutely zero time polishing it before putting it here if you think that will make it less like that you share it (see my blog for a somewhat brazen embrace of that principle: https://āāmyea.blog)
For another angle on this. Whatās the characterization of the ātruth-seekingā virtue that propels you on the way to becoming Holden Karnofsky (or to becoming as Holden-like as you can).
Seems like a decent intro to the topic, but itās not what Iām interested on.
On a quick skim, they seem to concern themselves with ābaselineā virtues, a standard that most utilitarians should follow, derived from simple, common-sense considerations. Iām much more interested on āspeculativeā or āfrontierā virtues. Character traits that, if relentlessly followed, could expose you to a much higher impact ceiling. Some candidates:
Openess: the scientific revolution and the literature on ideas as non-rival good that drive growth, suggest that some forms of āsharingā could have outisized, possibly persistent effects on the world. Whatās the shape of the virtue that leads to to seek the most valuable forms of sharing (somewhat related blog post from me)
Kindness: most of your impact will come from others in your sphere of influence granting you affordances to act on the world. Thereās habits, that when consistently aplied, make others more enthusiastic about granting you such affordances (Sam Altman and how quickly he responds to emails is an example that comes to mind. You donāt have to agree with his values, but I think heās a very good case study for many relational viirtues)
Integrity: if youāre an ambitious consequentialist, you could aim to affect the way our society/ācivilization conceives the good life (e.g. think of the founding fathers). How important is the integrity of your daily behavior for that? What are the traits youād like to embody precisely because of their effect on your civilizationās character? (somewhat related)
I have some writings on my blog related to some of these. I might come back later to link them here once Iām on my computer.
Not sure I know the biggest gap overall (and I think here you mostly should prioritize based on where you have a starting approach/āpersonal fit) but Iāve seen a few uni groups really annoyed at how slow and non-transparent the current grant process feels.
My sense is that grants to uni groups work at tr pace that most grants in the EA space do, but when youāre a small uni group and not used to planning ahead, it feels great if you can reach for support (and guidance on using/ānot getting the money) faster.
I use this lapel microphone (one for me, one for my conversation partner) and any sound recorder app on my phone. Itās plug-and-play, and keeping the audios is really fun!
Iām only now setting up the transcription on my mac, but Iāll try Macwhisper for that and I expect it will work well.
I loved the anxious tortured voice of the piece. Laughed out loud here:
I wanted to find a place for my sensitivity. I applied for five universities with a screed on the nature of suffering, and the ways in which art shows us we are not alone in it (Iād share an excerpt but Iād prefer to actually die).
Not sure if this is a trend, but feels like 2026 is headed to be an EA Blogs Renaissance (at least if you happen to share my particular tastes). Some pieces Iāve enjoyed recently:
ImprintingāAttachment and fear around cause prioritization. Extremely wholesome blog
Everything Cate Hall. Her TED talk is so well done that Iāll link it here
Can you imagine Ajeya Cotra officiating your wedding?
Philanthropy can be much better in so many myriad ways, hereās two a month, from Joey Savoie
Can love power a retreat from cruel animal practices? (Lincoln Quirk!)
Father Matt, the OG EA Renaissance writer
I might even be writing something myself!
Iād be really curious for a version of this piece more centered around the specific details of Sullivanās life (which I basically know nothing about).
The post intro seems to tease a bit that possibility, but the rest of your points are mostly āwe should do the important good thingā, which is a message worth repeating, but doesnāt feel too novel to this audience
I loved how both the title of the post and the first section foreshadow the wild animal welfare turn in the middle of the post. It was truly enjoyable read!
What are some groups or communities outside mainstream EA that would be worth engaging in our efforts to reduce existential risks? What are some specific areas or projects we could work on together?
Hereās a few other questions that approach that from different angles:
* Whoās the audience for your new book? Within them, who would be most keen to help reduce x-risk, even if itās not through EA-affiliated orgs or projects?
* What points in common does EA have with the UK Progress community? What can we do on the margin to work more closely together on our shared priorities?
Well, AI sentience probably has <100 people and Iād be joyful if that increased to 1k. Iām still interested even if the question is āHow can we fail less misserably at creating a talent pipeline?ā
You beat me to the linkpost!
I was so happy to stumble upon this paper. It had been a while since I read a piece of global priorities research that I felt could actually end up influencing my priorities.