My path to Effective Altruism (EA) began with a series of coincidences. While backpacking in Panama, I noticed a fellow traveler’s tattoo referencing the Fermi paradox. I struck up a conversation with him, and he recommended the blog Wait But Why. Six months later, a very detailed post about career choice was published there, which linked to the 80,000 Hours website at the end. A few more clicks later, I learned that an EA conference would be taking place in Utrecht two weeks afterward.

From Conference Attendee to Active Community Builder

So in the summer of 2018, I spontaneously traveled to the Netherlands (without really knowing anything about EA) to learn more about what seemed to me like a very interesting community. At the conference, I was completely captivated by the epistemic clarity and altruism that the community embodied – from that point on, I was enthusiastically involved. The conference didn’t just connect me to the EA community; it also changed some of my convictions through the conversations, exchanges, and reading of many articles. Previously, I had been convinced that donating money can’t have any real positive effect due to corruption and administrative costs. Today, I donate to projects in global and mental health, in the past mostly to the Against Malaria Foundation, GiveDirectly, and StrongMinds. I also founded an EA local group in Mannheim after the Utrecht conference.

Only “Excited Altruism” Works Long-term

However, after my initial enthusiasm, I became increasingly disillusioned two years later. I felt constant pressure to continuously optimise myself in order to have as much positive impact on the world as possible. This wasn’t good for me – which is why I took a year-long “break from EA”: no reading of EA blogs or the EA forum, no listening to EA podcasts, and no attending EA conferences. This phase was very important for me. Afterwards, I began to gradually explore how I wanted to integrate EA ideas into my life. The insight that only an “Excited Altruism” mindset is sustainable for me long-term was particularly helpful, and that the idea of “Obligatory Altruism” doesn’t serve me well. Julia Wise’s thoughts on this topic also strongly influenced me and helped me reconnect with the EA community.

Looking Beyond the EA Bubble

Today, I view EA in a much more nuanced way: It’s an impressive movement of people with remarkable moral ambition, epistemic clarity, and a strong will to make a difference. At the same time, there are aspects that deserve legitimate criticism. I’ve become much better at recognising EA’s blind spots and drawing inspiration from other movements. Many EA ideas remain central to my life – but I consciously look beyond the EA bubble more often to prevent intellectual monoculture. EA has a lot to offer, but it’s not the holy grail.

European Networking for AI Safety

Currently, I work in the cause area of AI safety. As Network Strategy Lead at Talos Network, I co-organise an EU AI Policy Fellowship there. I’m convinced that our society urgently needs to do more to prepare for the drastic changes brought on by AI and to minimise the associated risks. It’s important to me to keep the risk focus as open as possible, because whether gradual disempowerment, loss of control, or still unknown threat models will ultimately pose the biggest problem – we simply don’t know yet. Therefore, the focus of my work is on bringing new talent into the AI policy field and creating a valuable Europe-centred AI policy network through which individual influence can gain leverage.