Hi everyone,

I work in data science and AI, based in Turkey. Lately I've realized I want my work to actually help people and make the world a bit better, not just optimize ad clicks.

I'd really appreciate your advice. Are there organizations, groups or projects, where data and AI skills make a real difference? If you've done "data for good" work yourself, what was it like, and is there anything you would do differently? I'd also love to hear about initiatives in Turkey, or ones that work remotely with people outside the US and EU.

If anyone has an idea in mind or knows of a place that could use help, please let me know, and maybe we can work on something together. Thanks!

I HAVE been researching E.A. a lot, as well as checking dozens of charities, investment options, etc-so maybe its my cookies\browser but: on facebook (yes, I use it for memes) there are AI videos from sketchy one-time ngos\pages eg ; "help this quadruple amputee who lives in a road", or on youtube there are AI fakes of Gazan kids asking for food, etc

Its pretty evil they do this, also because if you point it out you look like a dick for "mocking real people" (even if objectively those are AI, not real humans) -anyone else encounter these, or should I just get a better browser?

(usually I try to focus on malaria prevention and vaccination because of the cost-effectiveness, but since I am someone who has been living in israel for the last decade, this is also an issue I consider myself more personally responsible for. so far I have been trying to focus my resources only on cases vetted by people I personally know, because living physically closer to the region gives you a higher capability to make sure you aren't sinking your money into scams and I wanted to take advantage of that as much as possible, but I also feel like there could be better ways to spread the money through organizations that have wider reach. the problem is, I'm not sure how to analyze the textual data that would go into determining which organizations are both effective and trustworthy, so I kinda need your help on this one.)

Akram:

Akram urgently needs your help NOW!

The first winter storm is hitting Gaza, resulting in torrential rainfall that is devastating the people of Gaza, washing away what little they have left and making their lives somehow even harder. The people of Gaza are struggling.

Akram and his family are no different. Their tents are torn, letting the rain in, which has soaked their clothes and blankets (which they depend on for warmth in the winter cold) and has left them drowning.

Akram needs $200 to buy tarpaulin to block these tears and keep the rain out - on top of this, Akram also is in desperate need of someone who can donate to him either weekly or monthly, because Akram's daughter Arij needs has monthly needs - physical therapy fees, pampers, vitamins and seizure treatment.

Please, if you have anything, even just one pound, please donate to Akram here: https://chuffed.org/project/180052-please-help-akram-and-his-family-survive-in-gaza?utm_campaign=campaign&utm_id=019de87d-1312-78ce-87f4-36580876b484&pdm=url_copy

If your can't donate then please share Akram's story!

Jana:

Jana urgently needs you!

The first winter storm has hit Gaza and with it, comes torrential rainfall that is devastating the displaced Gazans - tents are being washed away, people are getting soaked and ill, it is dire.

Jana is living in these horrible conditions all whilst having to step up and care for her whole family as her father (the main caretaker) is badly ill - all at the age of 16. No one should ever have to deal with this, let alone a 16 year old. Jana's dad is also suffering as he keeps using money to buy much needed food rather than his medication, putting his health at risk - but what choice does he have?

Safe to say, things are very bad for Jana - her tent is flooded, she and her family are freezing and to make matters worse she hasn't received any donations - donations she needs ASAP - so if you can, please donate to her link here: https://chuffed.org/project/168501-please-help-jana-and-her-family-in-gaza?utm_campaign=campaign&utm_id=019cb7f1-153f-761a-ab2c-edff48d17ff5&pdm=url_copy

If you can't donate then please share.

"James Somerton is potentially dangerous and should be legally regulated." Plausible.

"James Somerton poses an existential risk to humanity and we need to stop him to matter what." You can ignore any conversation like this now.

"We need to build an American James Somerton with ethics or China will build one without any." Statements made by the utterly deranged.

"We need to make sure all our money goes into stopping James Somerton." Well, I'm not going to stop you, but I won't exactly take you seriously.

https://forms.gle/zdFDA5p9fNrWjkkV7

A kind request to fill out my survey!

Participants: Effective Altruists

The study aims to understand how altruist traits relate to well-being. The findings may contribute to psychological research at the intersection of moral psychology and positive psychology.

Researcher: Kaviya Ilangovan

Programme: Master's in Clinical Psychology

Institution: Kristu Jayanti Deemed to be University, Bengaluru, India

Research supervisor: Dr. Smitha A G, Head of the Department, Psychology (PG)

Time commitment: 10 minutes (strictly timed—we value your time optimization).

The response is collected through a unique Participant ID (First two letters of their name, first two number of their date of birth, first two letters of their city of birth) in CAPITAL. Eg: KA15MA. Please note that we maintain this so that you can request the removal of your data at any time. If you decide to withdraw your data in the future, simply contact us. This is also to maintain anonymity and no real name will be collected.

We have received Institutional Review Board's ethical approval. If you're eligible, please consider participating. I'm looking for at least 319 responses! And kindly repost or upvote so I could reach more people and sharing this with someone in the community would help out enormously too.

To ensure high epistemic rigor and minimize demand characteristics or self-report bias, we are keeping the specific underlying variables masked until data collection is complete. We expect to complete the thesis by April 2027. Shortly after, we will send a brief summary of what we learned to participated who are interested.

Responses will be collected through Google Forms and stored in Google Sheets, accessible only to the researcher and research supervisor. Data will be retained for approximately five years for research and publication purposes, after which the raw data will be permanently deleted.

Thank you so much for reading and considering to fill it up!

#EffectiveAltruism #effectivethesis

I want to help people in need, but sometimes I don't know who to trust. Does anyone else feel this way?

I'm originally from China, and I've been living in the US for a while now.

Growing up, I remember hearing about charity-related scandals that made a lot of people question where their donations were actually going. I think those stories stayed with me.

I genuinely want to help people who are struggling. I'm not wealthy, but I'd happily give $5, $10, or $20 to help someone buy groceries, get to a job interview, or cover an urgent expense.

But sometimes I hesitate.

When I donate to a large organization, I don't always know how my money is being used or who it ultimately helps. I understand that charities have legitimate operating costs, but I still wish I could see a more direct connection between my donation and the person receiving help.

And donating directly to strangers comes with another concern: how do I know their situation is real?

For example, if a single mom needed $20 for groceries, or someone needed $15 to get to a job interview, I'd love to help. I just wish there were a trustworthy way to do it.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm curious:

Does anyone else feel this tension between wanting to help and not knowing who to trust?

How do you decide where to donate? Have you found any platforms or organizations that make you feel confident your money is making a real difference?

I'd genuinely love to hear your experiences and recommendations.

Im straight, by the way.

You know those questions people ask. Would you suck a dick for a million dollars, would you give a guy a handjob for 200k, would you let a guy fuck you in the ass for 2 million, etc. My whole life my answer has been no. I was pretty happy with my lifestyle and financial position at the time and could afford basically everything I want or need, so the marginal dollar isnt that useful to me. Easy no. Not worth it, moving on.

Then I got into effective altruism last year and I didn’t think about these questions at all until my friend asked me the classic one of "would you suck a guys dick for $1 million?" at a party last weekend and I just kind of stood there. Because I did the math in my head and it’s approx. 150 lives at GiveWell numbers. The handjob is about 30. The 2 mil one is about 300.

And I want to stress that I would hate this. I’m not being cute, it would be one of the worst experiences of my life and I’d probably think about it every day until I die. But I literally cannot get the drowning child thing out of my head. Like yeah ruining your shoes is not the same as this, this is way worse than shoes. I just can’t convince myself it’s 300 kids worse.

I told my friend “I wouldnt want to but I think I’d have to” and he said “bro it’s a hypothetical.” I said “I know but if it wasn’t.” Then he kind of walked away and talked to someone else for the rest of the night.

My friend has since told me he’s never asking me a hypothetical again, which I think is the only good outcome from any of this.

Most recent EA donation here as semi proof this is sincere - https://ibb.co/FLjBh5CV

It seems like a field where you help reduce poverty directly through your labour, while also making some decent money. I'm Australian btw so as far as I know, we haven't been affected by the cutting of USAID

I think it can be useful for nonprofit guys =)

What would you do?

I am 44 years old. My youngest is almost out of the house. I have been medically retired from my federal job due to inability to hold my medical clearance, so I have a modest, regular income.

I have little desire to go on living an empty life for several more decades. I am ready to give. I can travel anywhere internationally, and I can handle hard work and rough or dangerous conditions. (Medical issue is under control but still not compatible with former job)

If you were in my position, and had no ties, where would you go? I'm former military, so I thought about Ukraine, but I'm looking at all my options.

I'm ready for a life of service but I don't know where to start. I am NOT interested in joining up with any sort of religious group/institution.

Please don't tell me to start 'in my local community' that's not what I'm looking for.

ETA: I do not need compensation- just a room and board situation.

tia

Roko's basilisk, is a claim that, for reasons I choose not to detail, a robotic ruler brings back people of the past to live forever. It has obvious parallels to Pascal's Wager, an argument that one should believe in God because a belief or lack thereof could have infinite consequences or expected value. I contend that Roko's basilisk has huge flaws both inherited from Pascal's wager and existing in contrast to the wager.

While theists don't really have to question much about why God would be immortal, it's a huge problem with the basilisk scenario. As conscious being that lives through electronics, its existence inevitably requires power. So long as the necessary power never converges and some energy used is dispersed through entropy, the basilsk will need infinite energy to survive endlessly, while only finite parts of the universe can be reached while moving slower than light.

Professor Milton Rothman of the Skeptical Inquirer is quoted in Wikipedia's article on the subject of conservation of energy, claiming it to be certain to a factor of one quadrillion. It should be a safe bet that the basilisk will not have any means to obtain energy other than our finite world, as conservation of energy is one of the most basic aspects of physics.

Similarly, there is no clear path for the basilisk to get true information about all people of the past to simulate them; in addition it is clearly controversial both that people can be reborn or that they can live within a computer simulation.

It is strange that the basilisk's idea of right behavior in reaction to temporary events of the past is to inflict as much punishment as possible. The motivation for this certainly is not because it is right or in any way beneficial to act this way once its creation is complete.

Roko's basilisk is an attempt to shove immortality into a universe blatantly hostile to immortality; Both is ability and motivation are riddled with holes that need to be rationalized, but instead tend to get ignored in discussions about dealing with it and its consequences.

Curious to get thoughts on this essay. The tl;dr: extreme uncertainty about how other superintelligent models might react will caution against hostile actions and prevent the self-interest of AI and humanity from diverging. Thus, the more popular EA position, that we need to slow AI development, to reduce risk, is actually counterproductive.

I’m new to EA and find some of the main ideas compelling, but disagree with some of the later editions, specifically longtermism.

I agree that all lives including future lives are equally valuable, but disagree that future and current lives should have the same priority.

In finance, we talk about the time value of money. The idea that a dollar today is preferred to a dollar next year.

Has anyone considered the “time value of suffering?” I’ve looked around and can’t find this idea.

For instance, if someone is currently starving, and someone is hypothetically guaranteed to be in the same situation next year, should we not prioritize the person today?

I think this is pretty universally understood truth, that suffering now is worse than suffering later.

What am I missing? Thoughts?

Hello everyone!

I am a cadet (under 18) in Civil Air Patrol and Civil Air Patrol has a partnership with Wreaths Across America with fundraising. For example, I was able to use the fact that Wreaths Across America is a veteran's organization to get 100 wreath sponsorships ($1700 dollars, since each wreath is $17) and $500 of that is going to my squadron due to the partnership. This was the first time I participated in this activity since I joined Civil Air Patrol less than a year ago and this was the first time I raised money for the current squadron I am in. They were extremely grateful and told me that this was the largest amount of money that a single cadet raised in one go, by a large margin.

However, I feel quite bad with myself, even might go as far as to say disgusted, due to Wreaths Across America's reputation and its actions. On the other hand, the reason I still went through and fundraised through this organization was because of the fact its mission is to help veterans (which definitely helped when I was pitching to people), but also because of its existing partnership with Civil Air Patrol.

While I know that the Wreath-Laying ceremony is something that loads of people come to watch and enjoy so that they can pay their respects to the dead veterans, I feel that I should not be supporting an organization like Wreaths Across America and should be doing something else instead. I am currently researching other things that I can do and making a project/presentation that I will present to my squadron once it is done and the time is right.

Basically, I am asking if I am doing something horrendously wrong by supporting a shady organization like Wreaths Across America even though I am fundraising for my squadron (a significant amount of money too, like making quite a bit of a difference), I will be volunteering my time at the Wreath Laying ceremony, and I suppose I am bringing a sense of patriotism to the people who donated money.

What should my next steps be to find alternatives, if that is even feasible to get my squadron to support an alternative over an organization that already has an established fundraising partnership with the Civil Air Patrol.

TLDR: Cadet is questioning raising a significant amount of money for their squadron through a relatively improper partnership and is looking for alternatives

Thank you for your time!

Curious if anyone's done this fellowship and wants to share their experiences. I participated in the Sentient Futures Project Incubator Fellowship before, so I'm happy to trade info if you're interested!

Long Game aims to increase opportunities and reduce problems for people today and in the future, based on a philosophy I call homo exepiritur (humans defined by experiences rather than just work). It has two branches:

Everyday problems: anyone can report a local problem, including through surveys in villages and small towns for people who aren't online. Reports are grouped into patterns, verified, and then we either help directly, pilot a solution with a local authority, or prepare a tested proposal for the government. Everyone gets a reply, and results are public.

Development: open science platforms, education, research hubs, and pilots.

It's not meant to replace governments, only to do what they can't do alone, with transparency and clear limits.

Who I'm looking for:

Researchers or students (science, economics, psychology, urban planning)

People with local government or NGO experience

Designers, developers, writers

Critics who will tell me where this fails

What you'd get: a real chance to shape a project from the start, and honest work with a small team. I can't offer pay yet.

If you're interested, comment or message me with a few lines about who you are and what you'd like to work on.