Effective Altruism Global, abbreviated EA Global or EAG, is a series of annual philanthropy events that focus on the effective altruism movement. They are organised by the Centre for Effective Altruism. Huffington Post editor Nico Pitney described one event as a gathering of "nerd altruists", which was "heavy on people from technology, science, and analytical disciplines".
History
 | This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2024) |
The first Effective Altruism Summit was hosted in 2013.
In 2015, there were three main EA Global events. The largest was a three-day conference that took place on the Google campus in Mountain View, California, with speakers including entrepreneur Elon Musk, computer scientist Stuart J. Russell, and Oxford philosophy professor William MacAskill. There were also conferences in Oxford and Melbourne. According to MacAskill, the nature of the conferences improved coordination and ideological diversity within effective altruism. Talks included subjects such as global poverty, animal advocacy, cause prioritization research, and policy change. There were also workshops on career choice, Q&A sessions, and panels on running local effective altruism chapters.
One of the key events of the Google conference was a moderated panel on existential risk from artificial general intelligence. Panel member Stuart Russell stated that AI research should be about "building intelligent systems that benefit the human race". Vox writer Dylan Matthews, while praising some aspects of the conference, criticized its perceived focus on existential risk, potentially at the expense of more mainstream causes like fighting extreme poverty.
Since 2016, conferences have taken place at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, The Palace of Fine Arts, Imperial College London and other venues in Boston, Berkeley, San Francisco and London. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no events were held in 2020; instead, several virtual conferences and programs were offered. Activity resumed in late October 2021, with an event held at The Brewery in London. Three EA Global events are planned for 2022.
References
- "Centre for Effective Altruism Announces Lineup for Effective Altruism Global 2015". Pitchengine. Centre for Effective Altruism. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- "EA Global". EA Global. Centre for Effective Altruism. Retrieved 4 Feb 2022.
- Pitney, Nico (July 16, 2015). "Elon Musk To Address 'Nerd Altruists' At Google HQ". Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- Tallinn, Jaan (2013-11-13). "Jaan Tallinn's Keynote - Effective Altruism Summit 2013". Exponential Times. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
- ^ Guan, Melody Y. (August 3, 2015). "Elon Musk, Superintelligence, and Maximizing Social Good: A Weekend at History's Largest Gathering of "Effective Altruists"". Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- Townsend, Tess (August 3, 2015). "Elon Musk: AI Is Going to Happen. Let's Prepare For It". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- Matthews, Dylan (August 10, 2015). "I spent a weekend at Google talking with nerds about charity. I came away … worried". Vox Media. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- Effective Altruism Global (2021). "Events". Effective Altruism Global. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
- Vaintrob, Lizka; Wiley, Amy (2021-12-15). "EA conferences in 2022: save the dates". Effective Altruism Forum. Retrieved 2021-12-24.