Quick takes

Have @Matt Beard and @Mjreard considered having a child and naming it Matt BrEArdon? 

The Straw and the Camel's back I recently had a colleague complain that oat milk was a 'luxury' that the work coffee machines didn't need. And this tiny little comment kind of broke me. I feel like I am so careful not to judge or lecture everyone around me for their insanely massive moral failings around animal welfare, or donating - yet apparently people can't even just let me have my suffering-free milk in peace.  Which prompted me to re-evaluate something I hadn't really thought about in a long time - being EA (or EA-adjacent or however people wanna identify) is just really hard sometimes. I used to be more actively advocatey about things, but it can be exhausting, and at some point I just kinda stopped. But now I feel very motivated to figure out how to start being a lil more vocal again, because it turns out that pretending like I don't have strong opinions on these things is also exhausting! Which is all to get to the point of: there are a lot of posts on here about EA being hard, and how to talk about EA, and reading those posts helps get a feeling of support but knowing this doesn't magically make it all easier. I am just really grateful for this awesome community, and want to just normalise a bit more to share when it gets hard because thats ok. We are doing a hard thing.  (Note: while this one colleague clearly pushed my buttons, further reflection got me very happy that clearly a bunch of other people had been advocating to get the oat milk at LUMC and I'm very happy they exist and that they succeeded)  

A quick reminder that applications for EA Global: London 2026 close this Sunday (May 10)! We already have more applications than last year, and this looks set to be our biggest EAG yet (again)! If you've been meaning to apply but haven't gotten around to it, this is your sign. The admissions bar is more accessible than people often assume. If you're working on or seriously exploring a high-impact problem, you should apply. This is the EAG I've been most excited to put together yet. I'd love to see you all there. 📍 InterContinental London, The O2 · 29-31 May 2026 ⏰ Applications close: Sunday, May 10 🔗 Apply here

At what level of compute spending will AI Safety research be cut off from being considered effective altruism (if any)? Of course, saving humanity from misaligned AI could be argued to be close to priceless. But how many experiments have a direct theory of change (ToC) of how it's going to mitigate existential risk?  Perhaps a general one is fine at low compute ("it only costs $10 and 'control research' is generally thought to be a good research agenda").   But what about $5,000? What about $10,000? These numbers start to compare to or surpass what organizations like Giving What We Can receive from someone who donates for a whole year. It also starts to compete with saving a human life via programmes like those in GiveWell's top charities.  What about $20,000? $30,000? $50,000?  Over what time frame are we comfortable spending that much money on compute and still considering that money well (effectively) spent? A year? A month? A single experiment?  What kind of discovery is worth $50,000 in AIS research? Should we expect a clear ToC?  I'm very pro AI Safety, but I'm worried about some of the numbers I'm hearing for compute budgets being thrown around (compared to the information gained). I'm wondering - is anyone else is worried about a movement being (famously) concerned with cost effectiveness continuing on this path? Should we encourage more accountability?   

I am currently the only Fund Manager at the EA Infrastructure Fund... and that needs to change! I work full-time on something else within the Centre for Effective Altruism, and the EAIF needs a dedicated owner who will drive it forwards. I think we're sitting on a big opportunity here. There's so much that the EA movement could achieve, and so much great work that could be enabled by EAIF. Some indicators of promise here: * CEA is growing, but there's only so much that CEA can work on in-house. We need to fund and nurture great work that's happening elsewhere, too! * There are potential new sources of funding that EAIF could tap into; building a strong product here that donors are excited about is essential. * We have a mini roadmap laid out by recent successes within EA Funds. Let me say more on that last one. I've been extremely impressed by what another EA Fund, the Animal Welfare Fund, has achieved over the past year or two, improving it's evaluation quality, it's staffing, and it's available pool of resources. I think the EAIF has the potential for a similar rocketship trajectory; it needs the right person to come in and make that happen. CEA is hiring for a new Head of the EA Infrastructure Fund: full job description and application form here, apply by 4th May. Let me know if you have questions! I can't promise deep engagement with all potential candidates, but I'll help out with key/quick uncertainties if I can! Some additional thoughts from Loic, new Head of EA Funds, here.

So, who is this?

How regularly does everyone use this forum? I'm curious whether people tend to set aside time for browsing the forum, check it on-the-go, or just check the forum digest. I'm also wondering how I should approach the forum (examples: set aside one hour every week to stay up to date on the latest posts, check it when I'm on my phone instead of doomscrolling, just read the weekly digest and see if there are any interesting posts, etc.).

I'm trying to set up a mentorship scheme matching up experienced social media creators with exceptional communicators interested in learning how to communicate high-impact ideas and information at scale using the medium of social media. This is as part of a wider effort to get more EAs with a diverse but previously under-utilised range of skills started on their impact journey. What are some neglected, academic ideas / bits of knowledge that would benefit from being widely spread to the general public through the medium of social media? and... Do you know anyone who's extremely skilled at social media whom I could approach? Someone who would either be interested in making the content or coaching aspiring content creators? Thanks in advance for your help!