A few things I would see as better in expectation than AMF in terms of current people (with varying degrees of confidence and EV, note that I am not ranking the following in relation to each other in this comment):
GiveWell itself (it directs multiple dollars to its top charities on the dollar invested, as far as I can see, and powers the growth of an effective philanthropy movement with broader implications).
Some research in the model of Poverty Action Lab.
A portfolio of somewhat outre endeavours like Paul Romer’s Charter Cities.
Political lobbying for AMF-style interventions (Gates cites his lobbying expenditures as among their very best), carefully optimized as expected-value charity rather than tribalism using GiveWell-style empiricism, with the collective action problems of politics offsetting the reduced efficiency and corruption of the government route
In my view, the risk of catastrophe from intelligent machines is large enough and neglected enough to beat AMF (Averting a 0.1% risk of killing everyone would be worth $14 billion at the $2,000/life AMF exchange rate; plus, conditional on intelligent machines being feasible this century the expected standard of living for current people goes up, meriting extra attention depending on how much better life can get than the current standard); this is much less of a slam dunk than if we consider future generations, but still better than AMF when I use my best estimates
Nukes and biotech also pose catastrophic risks, but also have much larger spending on countermeasures today (tens of billions annually), although smarter countermeasures could help, so probably not anything I can point to now, although I expect such options exist
Putting money in a Donor-Advised Fund to await the discovery of more effective charities, or special time-sensitive circumstances demanding funds especially strongly
GiveWell itself (it directs multiple dollars to its top charities on the dollar invested, as far as I can see, and powers the growth of an effective philanthropy movement with broader implications).
There’s an issue of room for more funding.
Some research in the model of Poverty Action Lab.
What information do we have from Poverty Action Lab that we wouldn’t have otherwise? (This is not intended as a rhetorical question; I don’t know much about what Poverty Action Lab has done).
A portfolio of somewhat outre endeavours like Paul Romer’s Charter Cities.
Even in the face of the possibility of such endeavors systematically doing more harm than good due to culture clash?
Political lobbying for AMF-style interventions (Gates cites his lobbying expenditures as among their very best), carefully optimized as expected-value charity rather than tribalism using GiveWell-style empiricism, with the collective action problems of politics offsetting the reduced efficiency and corruption of the government route
Here too maybe there’s an issue of room for more funding: if there’s room for more funding then why does the Gates Foundation spend money on many other things?
Putting money in a Donor-Advised Fund to await the discovery of more effective charities, or special time-sensitive circumstances demanding funds especially strongly
What would the criterion for using the money be? (If one doesn’t have such a criterion then one forever holds off on a better opportunity and this has zero expected value.)
A few things I would see as better in expectation than AMF in terms of current people (with varying degrees of confidence and EV, note that I am not ranking the following in relation to each other in this comment):
GiveWell itself (it directs multiple dollars to its top charities on the dollar invested, as far as I can see, and powers the growth of an effective philanthropy movement with broader implications).
Some research in the model of Poverty Action Lab.
A portfolio of somewhat outre endeavours like Paul Romer’s Charter Cities.
Political lobbying for AMF-style interventions (Gates cites his lobbying expenditures as among their very best), carefully optimized as expected-value charity rather than tribalism using GiveWell-style empiricism, with the collective action problems of politics offsetting the reduced efficiency and corruption of the government route
In my view, the risk of catastrophe from intelligent machines is large enough and neglected enough to beat AMF (Averting a 0.1% risk of killing everyone would be worth $14 billion at the $2,000/life AMF exchange rate; plus, conditional on intelligent machines being feasible this century the expected standard of living for current people goes up, meriting extra attention depending on how much better life can get than the current standard); this is much less of a slam dunk than if we consider future generations, but still better than AMF when I use my best estimates
Nukes and biotech also pose catastrophic risks, but also have much larger spending on countermeasures today (tens of billions annually), although smarter countermeasures could help, so probably not anything I can point to now, although I expect such options exist
Putting money in a Donor-Advised Fund to await the discovery of more effective charities, or special time-sensitive circumstances demanding funds especially strongly
There’s an issue of room for more funding.
What information do we have from Poverty Action Lab that we wouldn’t have otherwise? (This is not intended as a rhetorical question; I don’t know much about what Poverty Action Lab has done).
Even in the face of the possibility of such endeavors systematically doing more harm than good due to culture clash?
Here too maybe there’s an issue of room for more funding: if there’s room for more funding then why does the Gates Foundation spend money on many other things?
What would the criterion for using the money be? (If one doesn’t have such a criterion then one forever holds off on a better opportunity and this has zero expected value.)