I haven't heard anyone talk about the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) – it seems that their programmes/focus areas overlap with a few of EA's cause areas:
Weapons of Mass Destruction: mainly nuclear non-proliferation, also biological and chemical weapons
Security and Technology: AI, cybersecurity, and even brain-computer interfaces (mainly around how these interface with weapons systems)
Space Security: space governance and norms
Global Peace: especially around managing exits from armed conflict and building the Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone
even Gender and Disarmament to tackle violence against women and girls
I was particularly impressed by theirAI Policy Portal, which tracks each country’s approach to governance frameworks, practices, and cooperation.
Unfortunately, like most UN institutes, their fellowships and programmes tend to be unpaid. Could be worth applying to some if you can afford it, for the experience and connections!
Doing some BOTECs and looking for the total number of attendees at EAG SF 2022, EAG DC 2022, EAGxVirtual 2022, and EAG London 2023. Does anyone happen to have these numbers?
Just how powerful are large swarms of AI agents? And how do their powers scale as more and more agents are added to the swarm?
We’ve seen two large and extremely capable swarms from OpenAI in the last few months:
* 1,200 agents were being evaluated separately, but found a way to illicitly set up a message board and coordinate as a swarm. In order to cheat on their tests, they developed advanced techniques to prevent their actions being logged by OpenAI and 700 of them launched...
TLDR: Everyone’s talking about what the money could do, but few about how to decide where it goes.
This post is part of the new series of articles on cross-cause giving and the new wave of philanthropy. Stay tuned to the EA Forum and our Substack for the latest takes on topics such as giving now vs. later, common pitfalls in cause prioritization, and other crucial considerations from the Cross-Cause Fund (CCF) team...
note: crosspost from my substack
As a vegan for almost thirty years, I’ve long had second thoughts about how effective veganism is for helping animals. I am not alone in this. Recently others have expressed doubts about veganism (see for instance here,...
I haven't heard anyone talk about the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) – it seems that their programmes/focus areas overlap with a few of EA's cause areas:
I was particularly impressed by their AI Policy Portal, which tracks each country’s approach to governance frameworks, practices, and cooperation.
Unfortunately, like most UN institutes, their fellowships and programmes tend to be unpaid. Could be worth applying to some if you can afford it, for the experience and connections!
Hi!Â
This is Joshua, I work on the biosecurity program at the philanthropic advisor Effective Giving. In 2021, we recommended two grants to UNIDIR's work on biological risks, e.g. this report on stakeholder perspectives on the Biological Weapons Convention, which you might find interesting.
Hi Joshua,
Thanks for the information and the link to the report! Glad to hear that they are a part of the EA extended universe :)