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History of Effective Altruism - effektivaltruism.org
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Useful background for understanding the social and philosophical movement that has significantly funded and shaped AI safety research; not a technical resource but provides institutional context for the field.
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Summary
This page provides an overview of the history and development of the Effective Altruism (EA) movement, tracing its intellectual origins and organizational growth. It covers key milestones, influential figures, and the evolution of EA's focus areas including global health, animal welfare, and existential risk reduction. The resource serves as an introductory reference for understanding how EA came to intersect with AI safety concerns.
Key Points
- •Traces the origins of EA from utilitarian philosophy and Peter Singer's influential work on effective giving in the late 20th century.
- •Documents the founding of key EA organizations such as GiveWell, 80,000 Hours, and the Centre for Effective Altruism.
- •Highlights how EA's scope expanded from global health and poverty to include long-term and existential risks, including AI safety.
- •Shows how EA's growth created a community and funding infrastructure that significantly shaped AI safety research priorities.
- •Provides context for understanding why EA-aligned funders and researchers became major actors in the AI safety landscape.
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| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| EA Global | Organization | 38.0 |
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The Impact of Effective Altruism | Global Movement for Good
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The Effective Altruism Movement
The movement and other central EA organizations were founded in the 2000s and 2010s in Oxford, UK. However, effective altruism has much earlier roots in various philosophical theories and communities related to doing good and rationality.
What Has The EA Movement Achieved?
Billions for effective charity
Through organizations such as Giving What We Can , Founders Pledge and Good Ventures, hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated to effective charities.
3,000 career changes
Over 3,000 people have followed 80,000 Hours’ advice and changed careers to make a bigger difference. That equates to roughly 80 million more hours spent working on important problems.
Influence work
Influential thinkers in the EA movement have reached millions of people through books, podcasts, TED Talks and media.
Read more about the EA movement's impact
What has the effective altruism community done?
Effective altruism isn’t one organization, it’s a broad community of people working on a diverse set of projects with a common goal: doing as much good as possible. Below are some things people have done.
Global Health
Prevented deaths from neglected diseases
Against Malaria Foundation
Provided significant support to the Against Malaria Foundation that has distributed 200 million nets, likely preventing 150,000 deaths.
Global Priorities Research
Founded an institute to research global priorities
University of Oxford
Started Global Priorities Institute at University of Oxford, an interdisciplinary research centre, to identify the most pressing issues and how we might approach them.
Emerging Technologies
Pushed for safer technological progress
Berkeley, University of California
CHAI, a research group at UC Berkeley, works to ensure that new artificial intelligence technologies benefit humanity rather than posing unacceptable risks.
Animal Welfare
Successfully campaigned against battery-cage factory farming
Open Wing Alliance
Corporate campaigns and legal reforms with the Humane League and Mercy for Animals freed more than 100 million hens from battery cages.
Innovation and global well
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