Positive Sum

Why Writers Will Survive AI

The best writing isn't about producing words. It's about judgment, context, and the implicit knowledge AI struggles to replicate.

Nov 29 • 

Abi Olvera

8

4

5

The Misinformation I Fell For

I fell for these four claims. You probably did too. Misinformation doesn't just happen to "other people."

Nov 21 • 

Abi Olvera

43

17

11

September 2025

America could have $4 lunch bowls like Japan—but our zoning laws make them illegal

Zoning and food safety laws add up to outlaw tiny restaurants operated by one or two staff.

Sep 10 • 

Abi Olvera

94

16

17

August 2025

Abundance Offers Democrats a Path Back to their Core Strength

Abundance rediscovers what made Democrats great: the belief that government can and should makes everyone's life better.

Aug 9 • 

Abi Olvera

19

2

Why Legal Risk Might Make AI Agents Less Useful Than Their Technical Capabilities Suggest

The same gray-area actions that humans do without thinking—like emailing researchers for paywalled papers—become legal risks when AI agents do them.

Aug 6 • 

Abi Olvera

13

1

July 2025

AI Researchers Should Study Real-World Barriers, Not Just Capabilities

We need more attention on "societal frictions," the bureaucratic, physical, and institutional barriers shaping AI diffusion, not just AI capabilities.

Jul 31 • 

Abi Olvera

18

2

5

How Developer Preferences Are Creating an Unexpected AI Safety Layer - And the Research Community Might be Missing It

Developers prefer APIs over agents with browser access because they're easier to work with—but APIs also happen to create natural safety constraints.

Jul 26 • 

Abi Olvera

8

4

Why I Started the DC Abundance Community Even Though I Hadn't Read the Book

Sometimes you have to act first and read later.

Jul 22 • 

Abi Olvera

8

2

An AI Policy Expert Told Us That Non-Programmers Shouldn't Work on AI. Here's Why He's Wrong

Technical skill helps in AI discussions, but some of the most important questions about AI deployment are the kind of complex social problems that…

Jul 20 • 

Abi Olvera

15

1

Why Effective Altruism and Global Health Needs More Progress Studies and Abundance

EA excels at scaling proven interventions like bed nets, but systematically underweights tackling the systems bottlenecks that stall life-saving…

Jul 17 • 

Abi Olvera

16

7

3

Why the AI Safety Community Needs State Capacity and Democracy Reformers

The unsexy work of fixing democracy, rebuilding public trust, and improving government capacity might be a neglected foundation that makes other AI…

Jul 13 • 

Abi Olvera

13

2

3

Four Reasons I Care About Abundance as an AI and Global Risks Researcher

Abundance matters because civilizations need state capacity to handle existential risks—and bureaucratic complexity is slowly destroying our ability to…

Jul 9 • 

Abi Olvera

10

14

2