Audio narrations from the Effective Altruism Forum, including curated posts, posts with 30+ karma, and other great writing. If you'd like fewer episodes, subscribe to the "EA Forum (Curated & Popular)" podcast instead.
Listen to episodes
60 recent
October 17, 20262 min
“We’re scaling and hiring” by Probably Good
<p> At Probably Good, our goal is to help people build careers that are good for them and for the world. We’re excited to share that, after exceeding expectations in our previous grant period, we just received a new grant from Coefficient Giving to significantly scale our work further. This comes at an important time for the effective careers ecosystem, which is working to help people navigate a rapidly changing job market as they tackle the world's most pressing problems.</p><p> As a result, we’re currently hiring two people for our new Programs team. These roles center on 1:1 career advising: helping people think clearly about important career decisions and leave with practical next steps. Advisors who are interested can also spend up to half their time on headhunting (matching people with high-impact opportunities) or events (sharing our ideas with students and professional groups).</p><p> Some practical details:</p><ul> <li> Location: The roles are remote, with a strong preference for candidates who are available on weekdays for at least 3 hours between 12 PM and 5 PM GMT. </li><li> Expected salary: 75,700 to 116,300 dollars (US), £53,900 – £91,300 (UK), with adjustments for other locations based on cost of living.</li><li> Deadline: Applications close on [...]</li></ul> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 16th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/F7ZL4buXXB68FvhjZ/we-re-scaling-and-hiring?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/F7ZL4buXXB68FvhjZ/we-re-scaling-and-hiring</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>
October 16, 20268 min
“Your work at [large AI safety ecosystem org] is not replaceable” by brentonmayer
<p> When speaking to candidates who are considering working with us at 80,000 Hours, I often hear people worry about replaceability.</p><p> The familiar version of the worry is about whether the organisation will hire someone else in your place. If it will, then the difference you make by taking the job is only the difference between you and them.</p><p> There are a couple of well-known answers to that. The person hired in your place probably cares about the world too, and would go on to do something useful with their time instead (Ben Todd wrote about this in 2015). And in a hiring round, the top candidate is often a lot stronger than the next-best one (Rob Wiblin worked this through in 2019).</p><p> These days, I think it's very common for organisations to do bar hiring rather than slot hiring: if we don’t hire you, we won’t hire anyone else.</p><p> If someone was considering joining as a podcast host or a writer, that would resolve the replaceability question: it's clear that their addition to 80k is approximately equal to their podcast episodes or the pieces they write.</p><p> But for people in managerial or generalist roles, we often hear a different [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(04:16) Rant</p><p>(06:57) /rant</p> <p><i>The original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 15th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/nfoBG6dQ9gGXShdXF/your-work-at-large-ai-safety-ecosystem-org-is-not?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/nfoBG6dQ9gGXShdXF/your-work-at-large-ai-safety-ecosystem-org-is-not</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/nfoBG6dQ9gGXShdXF/vegqabkdzp3ardm7lwod" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/nfoBG6dQ9gGXShdXF/vegqabkdzp3ardm7lwod" alt="Comparison table: "Someone has to run September payroll. What changes if it's you?" showing "If you don't join" versus "If you join"." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 16, 202614 min
“EA Implications Of Being In An AGI Simulation” by Ariel Simnegar 🔸
<p> (AI disclosure: After writing up my thoughts, I had Claude draft most sections of this post before rewriting them in my own words.)</p><p> If you spend too much time talking to EAs or rationalists, someone will raise the possibility that we’re living in a simulation. I’ve met people who, like Elon Musk, are pretty convinced we are, and I’ve met those who, like Joe Carlsmith, are more skeptical. Historically, the usual argument was that we’re being simulated for entertainment. As AI capabilities have increased, the argument I’ve more often heard is that the simulators are interested in AGI origins (an “AGI sim”).</p><p> Two implications of this are conversational catnip:</p><ol> <li> You’re an EA/rationalist who's at most one step removed from people who’ll play a pivotal role in AGI origins. If the simulators are compute constrained, you being you is best explained by a simulation rendering reality at a fidelity proportional to what the simulators care about. In other words, the vast majority of people and almost all animals might not be conscious at all.</li><li> If the simulators are compute constrained, they’ll probably just terminate the simulation once they’ve gathered the information they want. Whether or not our x-risk reduction [...]</li></ol> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:46) A. The Simulation's Crucial Considerations</p><p>(01:50) i. Why An AGI Sim?</p><p>(03:50) ii. Most People And Animals Might Not Be Conscious</p><p>(05:52) iii. We Might Get Terminated Soon</p><p>(06:44) B. Implications for EA</p><p>(06:47) i. Fanaticism Doesn't Care</p><p>(07:18) ii. The EA Decision Tree</p><p>(08:49) iii. Proportional Fidelity's Effect on Neartermism</p><p>(10:13) iv. Compute Fungibility</p><p>(10:49) v. Influencing The Simulator</p><p>(11:48) vi. We Are Digital Minds</p><p>(12:08) C. Testing the AGI Simulation Hypothesis</p><p>(13:05) D. Your Childhood Might Not Have Happened To You</p><p>(13:49) E. So What Should We Actually Do?</p> <p><i>The original text contained 3 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 15th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qpA6obxm6CyRhJFfS/ea-implications-of-being-in-an-agi-simulation?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qpA6obxm6CyRhJFfS/ea-implications-of-being-in-an-agi-simulation</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/qpA6obxm6CyRhJFfS/fxsznkpvizahpyopxrrb" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/qpA6obxm6CyRhJFfS/fxsznkpvizahpyopxrrb" alt="Flowchart "We're in an AGI sim" branching by rendering fidelity and termination to ethical conclusions." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 15, 202615 min
“Did I rejoin Ambitious Impact at the wrong time?” by Aidan Alexander, Ambitious Impact
<p> TL;DR: No, but you might, if you leave it too late: We’re hiring for seven roles, and the people who join now will shape what a much bigger AIM becomes. The first step is cheap -- an expression of interest form.</p><h3 data-internal-id="The_worry">My worry</h3><p data-internal-id="ftnt_ref1">I rejoined AIM in February. The team/culture and growth plans are more exciting to me than ever, but when I look at trends outside of AIM, in particular in AI capabilities, I’d be lying if I hadn’t asked myself if I came back at the wrong time..</p><p data-internal-id="ftnt_ref3">The worry goes something like this: A new charity takes about five years to reach its peak scale, and some kinds of benefits (e.g. from education, or some policy changes) can take a decade to materialize. If AI transforms the world before then, the majority of the new charity's impact will go unrealized. So is starting new charities the best thing you can be doing with your career right now?</p><p> I grappled with this myself for months. I tried to put aside the sunk cost fallacy and consider whether I should be doing something else. My answer is that there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. I hope [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:30) My worry</p><p>(01:31) Broad timelines imply a portfolio of bets, and AIM is an important bet within it</p><p>(04:52) Joining now means helping shape what AIM becomes.</p><p>(07:04) And then there's the people and culture</p><p>(09:42) So why haven't you applied yet?</p><p>(09:57) Some roles lean more senior:</p><p>(11:20) Others are a great way in, whether you're early in your career or switching fields:</p><p>(12:56) To pre-empt some misconceptions that might stop you from applying:</p><p>(13:48) The process:</p><p>(14:42) To close</p> <p><i>The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 15th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/did-i-rejoin-ambitious-impact-at-the-wrong-time?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/did-i-rejoin-ambitious-impact-at-the-wrong-time</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/lrmpne0q7dvwzadmntod" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/lrmpne0q7dvwzadmntod" alt="Combined bar and line chart showing charities launched and money raised, 2018–2029." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/ylqydqqxwjmb1w8zjnss" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g4fJLaCmexAxtBpdh/ylqydqqxwjmb1w8zjnss" alt="Large group posing playfully with dog outside modern building." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 15, 20266 min
“More people should write basic AI safety explainers” by Linch
<p> I think people continue to underrate the value of writing the clearest, most basic, simplest possible case for important parts of AI safety. For example, before I wrote my own explainer for the simplest possible case for AI doom, I noticed that all existing explainers, of which there aren't many, had multiple of the six problems below: </p><ol> <li> They have too many extraneous details</li><li> They appeal to overly complex analogies</li><li> They seem to spend much of their time responding to insider debates and come across as shadow-boxing objections.</li><li> They have "meta" stuff prominently in the text.</li><li> Often they "sound like science fiction." I think this plausibly was correct historically but in the year 2026 they don't need to be.</li><li> Often they reference too much insider jargon and language.</li></ol><p> I set out to improve on the SOTA. I did not fully succeed, but I think it was moderately better. Since then, there have been other, probably better, explainers (Yay!).</p><p> But actually this is true not just for the core case but many other parts of relevant safety arguments as well. For example, before I wrote my explainer on recurrent neuralese (which has since been superseded by Scott's better explainer) [...]</p> <p><i>The original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 13th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SCWyEE3y3j6KweykR/more-people-should-write-basic-ai-safety-explainers?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SCWyEE3y3j6KweykR/more-people-should-write-basic-ai-safety-explainers</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>
October 14, 202610 min
″(Why) we’re launching the next cohort of Generator” by a_e_r, Topaz, Kairos Team
<p> TL;DR: The first round of the Generator Residency went very well.</p><p> Our residents created and ran several large-scale fieldbuilding, talent infrastructure, and operational projects that have already had important impacts on the ecosystem. </p><p> Six weeks after the program ended, 12 of our 27 residents have been hired to full-time roles at core AI safety orgs, and most have received several offers. </p><p> Kairos and Constellation are running a second round from January to April 2027. Apply to the next round of the Generator Residency by November 1st. </p><p><strong> Introduction</strong></p><p> In April, we wrote AI Safety's Biggest Talent Gap Isn't Researchers. It's Generalists. </p><p> We wrote this because we noticed that organizations across the ecosystem were struggling to hire for key non-research roles. While these roles were often getting many applicants, candidates didn’t meet basic requirements.</p><p> The original memo we wrote (that became the post above) inspired us to create the Generator Residency as an intervention to support more generalists trying to break into AI safety.</p><p> The program concluded six weeks ago, and this post details the successes we’ve seen from the first round of Generator, which have inspired us to launch a second round of the program. </p><p><strong> [...]</strong></p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:48) Introduction</p><p>(01:32) Programs and projects from Generator</p><p>(04:12) Resident Outcomes</p><p>(05:29) Reflections</p><p>(09:18) Generator 2.0</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 14th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/3Kd67yhSkNgvf2Fot/why-we-re-launching-the-next-cohort-of-generator?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/3Kd67yhSkNgvf2Fot/why-we-re-launching-the-next-cohort-of-generator</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/3Kd67yhSkNgvf2Fot/djrppli5ylxoyamj371l" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/3Kd67yhSkNgvf2Fot/djrppli5ylxoyamj371l" alt="Two testimonials with photos from Andrew Wei and Carmen Hilbert." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 14, 202613 min
“AI Scaling vs Human Scaling” by Toby_Ord
<p> Audio note: this post contains a lot of mathematical notation. We narrate the simpler formulas and flag the complex ones, so you may want the original text to hand. </p> <p> Do AI models scale as well with more tokens as humans do with more time?</p><p> That is, does an AI get the same benefit from 10x the number of available tokens as a human does from 10x the amount of time to do the task? Or might the AI require a larger scale-up of tokens (such as 20x or 100x) to match the performance improvement when scaling up the time available to a human by 10x?</p><p> People often think of giving AIs more tokens to complete a task as akin to giving a human worker more time — especially when those tokens are used to extend the AI's sequential chain of thought or tool use. It's a useful analogy, but it isn’t clear whether the AI systems are as efficient as the humans are at turning these extra resources into superior performance.</p><p> We often lean on this analogy when trying to understand AI's current capabilities and how they might change. For example, we might think of scaling up [...]</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 9th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/ai-scaling-vs-human-scaling?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/ai-scaling-vs-human-scaling</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/qhoxvtz2tvip9d7bbv06" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/qhoxvtz2tvip9d7bbv06" alt="Line graph titled "Best Observed Score@k by Time Budget (95% CI)" comparing AI models and humans." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/sg6jbb67xzdnugaluzxe" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/sg6jbb67xzdnugaluzxe" alt="Line graph "Distribution of Human Scores Over Time" showing average normalized score rising with time." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/gbdnyzobbswfymeor14i" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/gbdnyzobbswfymeor14i" alt="Line graph "More compute, longer horizon" showing time horizon versus token budget for nine models." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/xrkpd5aiapmy6kxl4rdm" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/xrkpd5aiapmy6kxl4rdm" alt="Line graph "More compute, longer horizon" showing estimated time horizon versus token budget for nine models." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/kmehhip87uxrs8smodcc" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/kmehhip87uxrs8smodcc" alt="Table listing AI models with columns for gamma values and scale-up required." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/shf8plnqqlqu6dmqk1fc" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/g6sdhN39so8rWBuYk/shf8plnqqlqu6dmqk1fc" alt="Scatter plot with error bars, "Compute-scaling exponent by model release date," comparing Anthropic and OpenAI models." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 13, 202616 min
“It’s not an ache. It’s a demon from hell.” by Alfredo Parra 🔸
<p> Impressions from the 21st Annual U.S. Cluster Headache Patient Conference, organized by Clusterbusters.</p><p> On the morning of the last day of the conference, E. was hanging out with other “clusterheads” outside the conference hotel when he started having a cluster headache attack. Before he could go back to his hotel room, J. offered E. his DMT vape pen. J. is chronic—he gets attacks every day—so he never goes anywhere without his vape pen. He has successfully aborted hundreds of attacks with DMT in the two years he's been using it. Many years ago, E. had done DMT recreationally, but he had never used it to abort an attack, despite having had cluster headaches for decades.</p><p> “Do a 2-second pull, and hold it in as long as you can,” said J. to E. A few seconds later, E. could feel some effects, but the pain was still there. So he took another 2-second pull. He then stared intently at a tree in front of him for about 30 seconds. Then, his face transformed. He smiled, in utter disbelief. He started laughing and crying. The pain was completely gone. He felt clear-headed. He had never felt the pain fizzle away so [...]</p> <p><i>The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 12th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gYrYnzzcGm7oJ3Fp3/it-s-not-an-ache-it-s-a-demon-from-hell?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gYrYnzzcGm7oJ3Fp3/it-s-not-an-ache-it-s-a-demon-from-hell</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ffea3735275c0c54acdd2650216900eeab18a575e3bde4979e67a6bdb3c37e31/wzldcfb0hf0hnsc4l0x6" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ffea3735275c0c54acdd2650216900eeab18a575e3bde4979e67a6bdb3c37e31/wzldcfb0hf0hnsc4l0x6" alt="Oxygen tanks for conference attendees. (Credit: Brian E McGeeney)" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/f44b0145c11c4511d5fc1a2867d9902eb47618ff41e15f1c6eb3730cf9ae13b7/mz8cvrx4lrrcsjfalsnb" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/f44b0145c11c4511d5fc1a2867d9902eb47618ff41e15f1c6eb3730cf9ae13b7/mz8cvrx4lrrcsjfalsnb" alt="Aggregated data from Rusanen et al.'s systematic review of surveys.* Taken from Schindler, Lenaburg, and Wold (2026) (updated numbers from the conference presentation)** All intake forms aggregated. Injectable triptans in particular are effective for about 80% of patients but can only be used seldom, and long-term use can cause more frequent and more severe attacks." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/gYrYnzzcGm7oJ3Fp3/lyq58a6bfcmshoujwujt" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/gYrYnzzcGm7oJ3Fp3/lyq58a6bfcmshoujwujt" alt="Bar graph "Benefits Beyond Stopping the Attack" with patient note overlays showing DMT testimonials." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/5ebb47e1ca3593c3ca2049f6d5594817098110f9dadc51cf41190acfa34b729a/aix7ea9ozxb9og4ih9od" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/5ebb47e1ca3593c3ca2049f6d5594817098110f9dadc51cf41190acfa34b729a/aix7ea9ozxb9og4ih9od" alt="Me with Joe McKay of Clusterbusters. Check out his story. (Credit: Brian E McGeeney)" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/2a57d6fa923cde3d9db6c71b44866676d60323c4dd447a6bc8a77be4c6066f21/qphb6cmxarp5myhhq4eu" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/2a57d6fa923cde3d9db6c71b44866676d60323c4dd447a6bc8a77be4c6066f21/qphb6cmxarp5myhhq4eu" alt="Halloween-themed closing dinner. (Credit: Brian E McGeeney)" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/0bc90ec53fbde823701ea5b0669d0831e0d45b823c3ca09175edf46eabf9a15d/qas6dmybmzlktcxnjrzh" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/0bc90ec53fbde823701ea5b0669d0831e0d45b823c3ca09175edf46eabf9a15d/qas6dmybmzlktcxnjrzh" alt="Casey Cashman (left) interviewing Micah Fisk (center) and his mom, Erin Fisk (right). Erin’s family of four all have cluster headaches. (Credit: Brian E McGeeney)" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/1887bd85865835a2f990923793658d1ea66e14e2df257919d6f18d171e22ae7d/cmp0epnxe9eghbwrgb05" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/1887bd85865835a2f990923793658d1ea66e14e2df257919d6f18d171e22ae7d/cmp0epnxe9eghbwrgb05" alt="Me with Bob Wold, President of Clusterbusters." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/84490928f057bc62a23fb8c3fed0275e592472fbe9be8d58bf6728ae7f9b9eef/fxcoly0ikjvi3widlssf" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/84490928f057bc62a23fb8c3fed0275e592472fbe9be8d58bf6728ae7f9b9eef/fxcoly0ikjvi3widlssf" alt="My spot at the table, with promotional materials." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/1285c398a6967803e3301cdd59933d98ad9963d89fff243e505453ed86c59ff8/jajj4fi6xjs06oma3uoa" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/1285c398a6967803e3301cdd59933d98ad9963d89fff243e505453ed86c59ff8/jajj4fi6xjs06oma3uoa" alt="NIH spending in 2024 for various low-prevalence conditions." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 12, 202610 min
“Why AI-assisted bioweapons from lone wolves and non-state actors won’t kill us all” by Vasco Grilo🔸, abiolvera
<p> [Subtitle.] I interviewed dozens of biosecurity experts. The fear that AI will enable lone wolves to build pandemics is a case study in how domain expertise gets sidelined.</p><p> This is a crosspost for Why AI-assisted bioweapons won't kill us all by Abi Olvera, which was published on Positive Sum on 20 July 2026. Here is a response from Olivia Scharfman, and here is Abi's reply to it.</p><p> Some of my friends think we are going to die because AI will make building a bioweapon easier.</p><p> The fear is often that AI will walk an ordinary person through unleashing a pandemic. Or that AI will facilitate the creation of an engineered pandemic that could kill millions or billions on Earth.</p><p> I spent ten years as a US diplomat. My job was often to check claims before Washington acted. I wanted to double check this too.</p><p> I interviewed dozens of biosecurity experts who had decades at the lab bench.</p><p> Yes, AI makes virology work a little easier. But it is still extremely difficult. Media headlines often say “AI can make this step easier” without the broader context that a bioweapon involves a lot of hard steps that are not easier.</p><p> The [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:38) Why bioweapons are rare</p><p>(03:52) Why AI models don't change this</p><p>(05:50) Even success probably wouldn't be catastrophic</p><p>(07:53) Why this isn't conventional wisdom</p> <p><i>The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 8th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/PkCrKeYNyaxFtBCXr/why-ai-assisted-bioweapons-from-lone-wolves-and-non-state?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/PkCrKeYNyaxFtBCXr/why-ai-assisted-bioweapons-from-lone-wolves-and-non-state</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/PkCrKeYNyaxFtBCXr/qmzlm75mebzdliww817r" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/PkCrKeYNyaxFtBCXr/qmzlm75mebzdliww817r" alt="Photo by CDC on Unsplash" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
October 11, 202613 min
“How Can We Solve Animal Welfare’s Evidence Problem? (Post 1)” by Tom Billington, Henning Peters
<p> TL;DR: <br> The movement has an evidence problem. To solve it, for each intervention we need to know:</p><ul> <li> What types of evidence that intervention needs</li><li> What types of evidence different sources can give us</li></ul><p> In this post, we outline a framework for evidencing an intervention through five stages:</p><p> Figure 1: The five stages of the evidence pipeline.</p><p> Each stage poses a different question, needing different types of evidence, and thus different methods (and potentially different organisations and experts). A follow-up post will cover practical next steps.</p><p> Many thanks to those who reviewed our drafts. All mistakes are our own.</p><p><strong> <br> 1. Introduction</strong></p><p> Four months ago, Matthes argued that animal welfare has an evidence problem. Discussion mostly focused on the specific examples she gave. Her wider claim received less attention: that the movement lacks enough well-evidenced interventions, and that we need to take ownership of the entire evidence pipeline to change that.</p><p> Discussion so far has centred on interventions that are highly invested in, and whether their evidence is strong or weak (the top left of Figure 2). However, Most interventions are neither invested in nor well-evidenced. We want to add a second discussion point: how do we get [...]</p></br></strong></p></br></p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:31) 1. Introduction</p><p>(02:08) 2. What Do You Mean We Have An Evidence Problem?</p><p>(05:21) 3. The Evidence Pipeline</p><p>(06:48) Matthes' Examples & Cross-Dependencies</p><p>(07:42) 5. Some Ramifications</p><p>(10:08) 6. Caveats with Our Pipeline</p><p>(11:41) 7. Conclusion</p><p>(12:30) Note on the Authors</p> <p><i>The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> October 10th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/how-can-we-solve-animal-welfare-s-evidence-problem-post-1?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/how-can-we-solve-animal-welfare-s-evidence-problem-post-1</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/eifrfd0hz2ejo7uxbix6" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/eifrfd0hz2ejo7uxbix6" alt="Five-stage diagram: Relevance, Efficacy, Effectiveness, Initial scaling, Mass adoption." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/f9qb3mepkpz9hm9iomom" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/f9qb3mepkpz9hm9iomom" alt="Outlined eye with pale green iris." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/cgv2vwqjz3vceepvjfzz" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/cgv2vwqjz3vceepvjfzz" alt="Green dot inside a navy rounded square." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/riojsslrgzv6lafensu6" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/riojsslrgzv6lafensu6" alt="Globe with orbit logo." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/dmldkbaniq69bwcoojyb" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/dmldkbaniq69bwcoojyb" alt="Dot on rising curve before dashed bell-shaped peak." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/yvcjx6dzyxj15pwukkyz" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/yvcjx6dzyxj15pwukkyz" alt="Bell curve with a dot at the end." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/367052c6fc66efde0371fdb0556bf57b58fdb0ebfe6eee2302a0db247a9b78bc/csdof8kmrhcmcjlndgqd" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/367052c6fc66efde0371fdb0556bf57b58fdb0ebfe6eee2302a0db247a9b78bc/csdof8kmrhcmcjlndgqd" alt="Quadrant chart plotting "Movement investment" against "Strength of evidence" with arrow toward strong evidence." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/pjbigyqhqgjhrinz5nvv" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/pjbigyqhqgjhrinz5nvv" alt="Diagram showing five evidence stages from relevance to mass adoption, rising with evidence strength." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/xo1ggaqjvbiinwt9dq20" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/imT7cJrxsEnwjGEz7/xo1ggaqjvbiinwt9dq20" alt="Table comparing "Today" and "A more mature movement" across innovation stages from relevance to mass adoption." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>
Is this your show?
Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.
