How Silicon Valley became obsessed with effective altruism, championed by SBF before he dismissed it as a dodge, and doomsday scenarios like killer rogue AI
Sonia Joseph was 14 years old when she first read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, a mega-popular piece of fan fiction … Tweets: @chafkin , @ellenhuet , @business , @can , @crypto , @soniajoseph_ , @bw , @ellenhuet , @business , @business , @business , @business , @autismcapital , @mikepfrank , and @josheidelson Tweets: Max Chafkin / @chafkin : painful, eye-opening piece by @ellenhuet in @bw about predatory behavior that has thrived within EA and rationalist communities https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ellen Huet / @ellenhuet : NEW @BW: I dove deep into the hidden, powerful subculture in Rationalism, Effective Altruism & AI safety, united by a belief that hostile AI could kill us all soon Inside: $$$$, sexual abuse allegations, & parallels to an apocalyptic doomsday religion https://www.bloomberg.com/... @business : Effective altruism's obsession with AI, pandemics, nuclear war, bioweapons and numerous other ways the world could end is making some of its followers miserable https://www.bloomberg.com/... @can : fucking fascinating https://twitter.com/... @crypto : Sam Bankman-Fried made effective altruism a punchline, but the do-gooding philosophy is part of a powerful tech subculture full of opportunism, money, messiah complexes—and alleged abuse https://www.bloomberg.com/... Sonia Joseph / @soniajoseph_ : I was in the Bloomberg @BW article about AI safety, LW, doomsday cults, & sexual abuse. Thank you @ellenhuet for your excellent journalism. Thank you to the women for being brave, speaking up, and continuing to shed light on AI's dark underbelly. link: https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... @bw : Silicon Valley's obsession with killer AI has driven some AI safety researchers to psychotic breaks https://www.bloomberg.com/... Ellen Huet / @ellenhuet : a nod to @CharlotteAlter for breaking a lot of ground on alleged sexual harassment and abuse in effective altruism https://time.com/... https://twitter.com/... @business : Eight women in these spaces allege pervasive sexual misconduct, including abuse and harassment, that they say has frequently been downplayed https://www.bloomberg.com/... @business : The combination of insularity and shared purpose makes the subculture so attractive to smart outsiders. But it also makes it a hunting ground for: ➡️ Con artists ➡️ Sexual predators ➡️ Megalomaniacs https://www.bloomberg.com/... @business : Until recently, its most generous supporter was Sam Bankman-Fried, who invested close to $600 million in related causes before dismissing effective altruism as a dodge once his business fell apart. He's far from the only alleged bad actor https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... @business : The overlap between rationalists, EAs, and AI safety researchers forms a deeply influential subculture. Its hundreds or thousands of members are united by a belief that they need to invest lots of money to stop AI from going Terminator on us https://www.bloomberg.com/... @autismcapital : LONG FORM: Bloomberg highlights the sick cult-like group think, abuse, and manipulation found in Bay Area rationalist communities — brings you up to speed on the dark underbelly of AI Safety, Rationality, Effective Altruism, CFAR, MIRI, etc. Worth reading https://www.bloomberg.com/... Michael P. Frank / @mikepfrank : Very good article. “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster...” Especially when the monsters exist only in your fevered imagination. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Josh Eidelson / @josheidelson : “She heard stories of sexual misconduct involving male leaders in the scene, but when she asked around, her peers waved the allegations off as minor character flaws unimportant when measured against the threat of an AI apocalypse.” https://www.bloomberg.com/... @ellenhuet @BW