Topics in Need of Work
Benchmarks are tests which enable us to measure the progress of AI capabilities, and test for characteristics which might pose safety risks.
Further reading
BASALT: A Benchmark for Learning from Human Feedback - AI Alignment Forum
Misaligned Powerseeking — SERI ML Alignment Theory Scholars Program | Summer 2022
Proliferation is the spread of weapons, technologies, or things useful in producing weapons or technologies to actors who did not previously have those things. The term "proliferation" is especially associated with the spread of weapons of mass destruction - such as nuclear weapons - or of technologies or materials useful in producing them. The term diffusion...
Further reading
Karnofsky, Holden (2022) Ideal governance (for companies, countries and more), Effective Altruism Forum, April 7.
Related entries
AI governance | law | policy | prediction markets | standards and regulation
Productivity, in the context of effective altruism, refers to the practices, tools, and mental models that help individuals or teams increase the amount and quality of impact-focused work they can accomplish over time. While often associated with efficiency and output, productivity in EA is typically framed with an emphasis on sustainability, focus, and long...
Local priorities research (LPR) is research aimed at identifying high priority problems within a local context, such as the context of a particular country.
LPR is quite similar to global priorities research (GPR), except that it’s narrowed down to a certain country; the idea is to leverage local opportunities, not to narrow the moral circle. While GPR ...
The Motivational tag covers posts that focus on inspiring us to do good (either a specific kind of good, or whatever we already want to work on).
We hope that reading through this collection will lift your spirits and spur you to beneficial action!
If a post motivates you to do good, or you think it will motivate others, upvote it. There are no wrong answers.
The collections and resources topic covers posts containing lists of EA-related resources. These could be external links or curated Forum content.
Further reading
Aird, Michael (2020) Suggestion: EAs should post more summaries and collections, Effective Altruism Forum, March 9.
Related entries
Research agendas, questions, and project lists | writing advice | types...
Topic Voting Activity
| User | Post Title | Topic | Pow | When | Vote |
Recent Topic Activity
More details in the announcement post.
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A week for discussing funding strategy, broadly construed.
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
| Dates | Nov 10-16 | Nov 17-23 | Nov 24-Dec 7 | Dec 8-14 | Dec 15-EOY |
| Event | Funding Strategy Week | Marginal Funding Week | Donation Election
| ‘Why I donate’ week | Donation Celebration Banner
|
More details in the announcement post.
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
| Dates | Nov 10-16 | Nov 17-23 | Nov 24-Dec 7 | Dec 8-14 | Dec 15-EOY |
| Event | Funding Strategy Week | Marginal Funding Week | Donation Election
|
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) iswas an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encouragesencouraged rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants arewere invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR THE COMPETITION HAS NOW PASSED. YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT ESSAYS WITH THE TAG, AND THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR A BEST-OF SEQUENCE, BUT WON'T BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE.
This year's Draft Amnesty Week will run from February 24th to March 2nd.2nd, and, from October 13th - 19th. Draft Amnesty is an event where Forum users can post scrappy, draft-y, or incomplete posts with impunity.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) is an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encourages rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants are invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, argument, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Greaves, Hilary & MacAskill, William (2021). The Case for Strong Longtermism.
Ord, Toby (2020). The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.
Provisional tag — moderators may want to change the name, or delete this if it doesn't seem separate enough from the "Forecasting" tag. Could also be "betting on beliefs", though that still isn't very specific.
Some people use betting as a way to signal the strength of their views; they might offer a bet as a way to identify a crux in a debate, or challenge a critic they view as insincere.
This tag tracks posts where people make public bets on their beliefs (or discuss the practice of doing so).
Provisional tag — moderators may want to change the name, or delete this if it doesn't seem separate enough from the "Forecasting" tag. Could also be "betting on beliefs", though that still isn't very specific.
Some people use betting as a way to signal the strength of their views; they might offer a bet as a way to identify a crux in a debate, or challenge a critic they view as insincere.
This tag tracks posts where people make public bets on their beliefs (or discuss the practice of doing so).
Effective Altruism Forum (2025). Announcing: The Essays on Longtermism Competition.Competition.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) is an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025). The competition encourages rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants are invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, argument, or theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Further reading
Barrett, Jacob; Greaves, Hilary; Thorstad, David (eds.) (2025). Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future. Oxford University Press.
Greaves, Hilary & MacAskill, William (2021). The Case for Strong Longtermism.
Ord, Toby (2020). The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.
Effective Altruism Forum (2025). Announcing: The Essays on Longtermism Competition.
Related entries
longtermism | forecasting | moral philosophy | Events on the EA Forum | prizes and contests
NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR THE COMPETITION HAS NOW PASSED. YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT ESSAYS WITH THE TAG, AND THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR A BEST-OF SEQUENCE, BUT WON'T BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) was an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encouraged rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants were invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Further reading
Barrett, Jacob; Greaves, Hilary; Thorstad, David (eds.) (2025). Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future. Oxford University Press....
The 10% Pledge is a public, non-binding commitment to donate at least 10% of one’s income each year to the most cost-effective charities or funding opportunities one can identify. It is administered by Giving What We Can (GWWC) and serves both as a personal commitment device and as a norm-setting tool within the effective altruism community.tool.
The tag was rejected because it hasn’t yet been applied to at least three posts by different authors.