Welcome to our new series, The Politics of AI. In this episode, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the philosophy and ethics of Effective Altruism. The EA movement is premised on the belief that "we must do the most good possible" and do so with the greatest effect. It's main thinkers (we've been reading Peter Singer, Derek Parfit, Nick Bostrum, Toby Ord, and William MacAskill) argue that it's morally imperative to get a high-earning career, become maximally effective with your giving, and look to global problems rather than just your country. EA has had on outsized philosophical impact on AI development, being the guiding ethic of both AI safety and some of the leaders of frontier labs. Marc and Alex discuss the philosophy and ethics of EA and why it makes you a bad person.
View our full reading list here: https://newpolity.com/blog/reading-list-ai
This podcast series is in preparation for our landmark event, The Catholic AI Summit, March 19–20, 2027, in Pittsburgh. Check out the event and register at https://www.catholicaisummit.com/