Peter Thiel says that effective altruists got 'one big thing right'
Peter Thiel said that early effective altruists were right about AI. "There was one big thing they knew that the other people did not," he said.
Peter Thiel stated that early effective altruists were correct in their predictions about artificial intelligence (AI). In a clip from Walter Isaacson's podcast The Builders, shared with Business Insider, Thiel compared effective altruism to a cult, yet acknowledged that its adherents had one correct insight. Thiel compared effective altruism to a cult, noting that early members were right about AI.
Many AI leaders have criticized effective altruism, but Thiel believes the movement got one thing right. Effective altruists aim to use evidence and reason to determine the best ways to use their resources to benefit humanity. Thiel noted that these early AI predictions were more accurate than might be expected during a period when AI was overpromised but not fully developed.
He also linked effective altruism to the AI company Anthropic, which has a history with effective altruists, some of whom have pledged donations.
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