William MacAskill

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Hi - I'm Will MacAskill, a moral philosopher and senior research fellow at [Forethought](https://www.forethought.org/).

I’m currently working on “AGI Preparedness”: trying to chart the future trajectory of rapid AI-driven technological change, identify what challenges might arise as a result, and figure out what we should be doing, now, to prepare. I write much more about this idea in “ [Preparing for the Intelligence Explosion](https://www.forethought.org/research/preparing-for-the-intelligence-explosion),” and talk about it on the [80,000 Hours podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjSl2re_Fm8&t=1s).

As part of this, I’m interested in space governance, AI rights, what values we should give to AI and, more generally, what a good post-AGI society should look like.

Before Forethought, I was an Associate Professor at Oxford University (2015-2024). While there, I wrote [_Doing Good Better_](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doing-Good-Better-Effective-Difference/dp/1783350512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536156440&sr=8-1&keywords=doing+good+better)(2015) and [_What We Owe The Future_](https://whatweowethefuture.com/)(2022), and co-authored [_Moral Uncertainty_](https://www.williammacaskill.com/info-moral-uncertainty)(2020) and [_An Introduction to Utilitarianism_](https://utilitarianism.net/)(2024).

I also helped to start the [effective altruism](https://www.effectivealtruism.org/) movement, which is about trying to use evidence and reason to help others as much as possible with our time and money. As part of that, I cofounded [Giving What We Can](https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/) (2009), [80,000 Hours](https://80000hours.org/) (2011), and the [Centre for Effective Altruism](https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/) (2012). I’ve also cofounded the [Global Priorities Institute](https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org/) (2017) at Oxford University, and, more recently, Forethought.

To learn more about me and effective altruism, I’d recommend reading [this piece by TIME Magazine.](https://time.com/6204627/effective-altruism-longtermism-william-macaskill-interview/)

For speaking engagements and press inquiries, please go [here](https://www.williammacaskill.com/press).

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