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Effective Altruism is about asking questions. It’s being judged by its loudest minority.
The movement that funded bednets and cheap housing is now known for saying AI will kill us all. Many of its members, even in AI safety, don’t share that…
 • Abi Olvera
What Decides How Much AI Changes the World
Incentive systems and entrenched interests keep making AI forecasts wrong.
 • Abi Olvera
A No-Regrets AI Agenda for Workers and Low-Income People
Thirteen things worth doing to make Americans’ lives more resilient regardless of how AI impacts labor.
 • Abi Olvera
Why AI-assisted bioweapons won't kill us all
I interviewed dozens of biosecurity experts. The fear that AI will enable lone wolves to build pandemics is a case study in how domain expertise gets…
 • Abi Olvera
New York's AI "professional advice" bill would hurt the people who can't afford the alternative
The bill targets chatbots posing as licensed professionals. As written, it makes almost any useful answer in a regulated field a liability, with no…
 • Abi Olvera
Cars often keep people poor. Waymo could help.
The poorest fifth of American families spend 38% of their income on a car. The breakdowns and road deaths that fall hardest on them are just the cost of…
 • Abi Olvera
Colleges Need Low-Income Students. The Students Don't Know.
Our information ecosystems aren't great at providing life-changing information. I stumbled on a list of full-ride programs at 18 and it changed my life…
 • Abi Olvera
57% of Americans think AI is risky, but when you ask how it'll affect them personally, they're optimistic
It might be the same phenomenon that makes people think crime is terrible nationally (but fine in their neighborhood) and that their fellow citizens are…
 • Abi Olvera
Why Americans Are More Pessimistic About AI Than the Rest of the World
Over the past years, tech skepticism became a marker of being informed and progressive. When beliefs signal group membership, they can trump even direct…
 • Abi Olvera
Why Writers Will Survive AI
The best writing isn't just producing words. It depends on judgment, context, and the implicit knowledge AI struggles to replicate.
 • Abi Olvera
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.
 • Abi Olvera
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.
 • Abi Olvera
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