I hope I can use my birthday to make the world a better place. That's why I'm hoping that you want to make my birthday a little better by donating to one ofthree top-rate non-profits that are working to make the world better: the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, GiveDirectly, or Mercy for Animals. (I describe them in more detail below.)
Just indicate in the comment of your donation which organization you wish to support. If you don't earmark your donation to any specific organization, I will give your money to MIRI. Of course, if you wish, you can also split your donation however you wish.
My birthday is on the 5th of September, but this fundraiser will run until the 8th, to give you a bit more time to make your donation.
The organizations:
1) The Machine Intelligence Research Institute does foundational research to ensure that advanced artificial intelligence will have a positive impact on the world. I used to work for them full-time, and remain involved with them as a Research Associate. I recommend them because:
* AI could have a bigger impact on the world than anything that we've seen in history so far. We aren't sure of how soon it might be created or how many problems we might need to solve it to make it safe, so having people working on these issues may be among the world's largest priorities.
* My past and current involvement with MIRI gives me some extent of insider access to information that convinces me they are working in an effective and rational manner, constantly refining their approaches based on new evidence.
* In the last few years, MIRI has produced a number of novel papers, and been increasingly successful at getting mainstream academics interested in their work. Famous and influential academics who have cited, collaborated with, or favorably mentioned MIRI or their work include the philosopher David Chalmers, the mathematician John Baez, and the co-author of the world's most used AI textbook, Stuart Russell.
2) GiveDirectly is one of the three top charities recommended by the charity evaluation group GiveWell. GiveDirectly transfers cash to households in developing countries via mobile phone-linked payment services, targeting extremely low-income households. GiveWell recomments GiveDirectly because of GD's:
* Focus on a program with a low burden of proof and a strong track record.
* Strong (and evolving) process for ensuring that cash is well-targeted and consistently reaches intended targets, and documented success in transferring a high portion of funds raised directly to recipients.
* Standout transparency and commitment to self-evaluation.
* Room for more funding - GiveWell believes that GiveDirectly can use substantial additional funding productively.
3) Mercy for Animals is one of the two top charities recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators. Mercy for Animals advocates for farm animals by conducting undercover investigations, engaging in corporate and legal outreach, running online vegetarian ads, and organizing grassroots outreach events.
Animal Charity Evaluators recommends Mercy for Animals because they find MFA to be an exceptionally strong organization because of their demonstrated willingness to adjust their programming to seek maximum effectiveness and because of the range of programs they have undertaken with good results. ACE thinks that MFA's undercover investigations and related corporate and legal campaigns are particularly promising approaches.