The Nonlinear Library EA - 2023 EA conference talks are now live by Eli Nathan
Nov 28, 2023
06:10
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: 2023 EA conference talks are now live, published by Eli Nathan on November 28, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Recordings from various 2023 EA conferences are now live on
our YouTube channel
. These include talks from
EAG Bay Area,
EAG London,
EAG Boston,
EAGxLatAm,
EAGxIndia,
EAGxNordics, and
EAGxBerlin (alongside many other talks from previous years).
In an effort to cut costs, this year some of our conferences had fewer recorded talks than normal, though we still managed to record over 100 talks across the year. This year also involved some of our first Spanish-language content, recorded at EAGxLatAm in Mexico City. Listening to talks can be a great way to learn more about EA and stay up to date on EA cause areas, and recording them allows people who couldn't attend (or who were busy in 1:1 meetings) to watch them in their own time.
Some highlighted talks are displayed below:
EA Global: Bay Area
Discovering AI Risks with AIs | Ethan Perez
In this talk Ethan presents on how AI systems like ChatGPT can be used to help uncover potential risks in other AI systems, such as tendencies towards power-seeking, self-preservation, and sycophancy.
How to compare welfare across species | Bob Fischer
People farm a lot of pigs. They farm even more chickens. And if they don't already, they're soon to farm even more black soldier flies. How should EAs distribute their resources to address these problems? And how should EAs compare benefits to animals with benefits to humans?
This talk outlines a framework for answering these questions. Bob Fischer argues that we should use estimates of animals' welfare ranges to compare how much good different interventions can accomplish. He also suggests some tentative welfare range estimates for several farmed species.
EA Global: London
Taking happiness seriously: Can we? Should we? A debate | Michael Plant, Mark Fabian
Effective altruism is driven by the pursuit to maximize impact. But what counts as impact? One approach is to focus directly on improving people's happiness - how they feel during and about their lives.
In this session, Michael Plant and Mark Fabian discuss how and whether to do this, and what it might mean for doing good differently. Michael starts by presenting the positive case - why happiness matters and how it can be measured - then shares the Happier Lives Institute's recent research on the implications and suggesting directions for future work. Mark Fabian acts as a critical discussant and highlights key weaknesses and challenges with 'taking happiness seriously'. After their exchange, these issues open up to the floor.
Panel on nuclear risk | Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, Paul Ingram
This panel joins together Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, and Paul Ingram for a panel on a conversation exploring the future of arms control, managing nuclear tensions with Russia, China's changing nuclear strategy, and more.
EA Global: Boston
Opening session: Thoughts from the community | Arden Koehler, Lizka Vaintrob, Kuhan Jeyapragasan
In this opening session, hear talks from three community members (Lizka Vaintrob, Kuhan Jeyapragasan, and Arden Koehler) as they give some thoughts on EA and the current state of the community.
Screening all DNA synthesis and reliably detecting stealth pandemics | Kevin Esvelt
Pandemic security aims to safeguard the future of civilisation from exponentially spreading biological threats. In this talk, Kevin outlines two distinct scenarios - "Wildfire" and "Stealth" - by which pandemic-causing pathogens could cause societal collapse. He then explains the 'Delay, Detect, Defend' plan to prevent such pandemics, including the key technological programmes his team oversees to mitigate pandemic risk: a DNA synthesis screening system that prevents malicious actors from synthesizing and rel...
Recordings from various 2023 EA conferences are now live on
our YouTube channel
. These include talks from
EAG Bay Area,
EAG London,
EAG Boston,
EAGxLatAm,
EAGxIndia,
EAGxNordics, and
EAGxBerlin (alongside many other talks from previous years).
In an effort to cut costs, this year some of our conferences had fewer recorded talks than normal, though we still managed to record over 100 talks across the year. This year also involved some of our first Spanish-language content, recorded at EAGxLatAm in Mexico City. Listening to talks can be a great way to learn more about EA and stay up to date on EA cause areas, and recording them allows people who couldn't attend (or who were busy in 1:1 meetings) to watch them in their own time.
Some highlighted talks are displayed below:
EA Global: Bay Area
Discovering AI Risks with AIs | Ethan Perez
In this talk Ethan presents on how AI systems like ChatGPT can be used to help uncover potential risks in other AI systems, such as tendencies towards power-seeking, self-preservation, and sycophancy.
How to compare welfare across species | Bob Fischer
People farm a lot of pigs. They farm even more chickens. And if they don't already, they're soon to farm even more black soldier flies. How should EAs distribute their resources to address these problems? And how should EAs compare benefits to animals with benefits to humans?
This talk outlines a framework for answering these questions. Bob Fischer argues that we should use estimates of animals' welfare ranges to compare how much good different interventions can accomplish. He also suggests some tentative welfare range estimates for several farmed species.
EA Global: London
Taking happiness seriously: Can we? Should we? A debate | Michael Plant, Mark Fabian
Effective altruism is driven by the pursuit to maximize impact. But what counts as impact? One approach is to focus directly on improving people's happiness - how they feel during and about their lives.
In this session, Michael Plant and Mark Fabian discuss how and whether to do this, and what it might mean for doing good differently. Michael starts by presenting the positive case - why happiness matters and how it can be measured - then shares the Happier Lives Institute's recent research on the implications and suggesting directions for future work. Mark Fabian acts as a critical discussant and highlights key weaknesses and challenges with 'taking happiness seriously'. After their exchange, these issues open up to the floor.
Panel on nuclear risk | Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, Paul Ingram
This panel joins together Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, and Paul Ingram for a panel on a conversation exploring the future of arms control, managing nuclear tensions with Russia, China's changing nuclear strategy, and more.
EA Global: Boston
Opening session: Thoughts from the community | Arden Koehler, Lizka Vaintrob, Kuhan Jeyapragasan
In this opening session, hear talks from three community members (Lizka Vaintrob, Kuhan Jeyapragasan, and Arden Koehler) as they give some thoughts on EA and the current state of the community.
Screening all DNA synthesis and reliably detecting stealth pandemics | Kevin Esvelt
Pandemic security aims to safeguard the future of civilisation from exponentially spreading biological threats. In this talk, Kevin outlines two distinct scenarios - "Wildfire" and "Stealth" - by which pandemic-causing pathogens could cause societal collapse. He then explains the 'Delay, Detect, Defend' plan to prevent such pandemics, including the key technological programmes his team oversees to mitigate pandemic risk: a DNA synthesis screening system that prevents malicious actors from synthesizing and rel...