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This is: APPG on Future Generations impact report – Raising the profile of future generation in the UK Parliament, published by weeatquince on the AI Alignment Forum.
Introduction for EA Forum
I have copied below the impact report for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Future Generations. It was a pain to write because just as I finished the report we went from “having almost no impact” to “having some impact” as our request for a new Committee to scrutinise how the UK prepares for future risks was approved. Ah well!
It is my first year working on such a project, and as such it is hard for me to judge whether we have done a good job or just been lucky (or even unlucky, or badly run). That said I hope this provides a reasonable yardstick to think about the impact of policy influencing, that you find it an interesting tale and that it gives a sense of what working in policy is like. The write-up does not assess whether trying to improve policy, (such as policy on future risks) will actually lead to clear counterfactual impact on the world and I leave this part of the puzzle to readers.
If I was giving advice to others taking on similar projects I would say:
Put yourself in a position of influence. You can create change by working with those who have power and taking opportunities when they arise. For example finding and working with or for political actors who are aligned with the change you want to create.
Find quality experts. You can get access to high quality experts through the combination of having a role in the politics/government sphere and being willing to ask (politely with confidence and credentials). We have had some really top level speakers at our events. Policy development is never as simple as you think and experienced input is super useful. For developing policy an hour conversation with the CEO of a government agency can be worth days of desk research.
I would also add that:
I am unconvinced the EA community gets policy and has prioritised the correct policy areas. For example if you believe the longtermist arguments that top programmers should work on AI alignment, it does not at all follow that good policy people can have more impact on AI policy compared to policy on resilience, macroeconomics, institution design, nuclear non-proliferation, climate change, etc. Similarly bednets are likely not the answer to international development policy, and the effect of policy on international development is under researched by EA folk. (I will hopefully write more on all of this shortly).
If you think this is a good project and want to support it in any way or have feedback on it do get in touch. We are developing our plans for 2020-21.
(A better formatted pdf version of the below is available here.)
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Introduction
Thank you for reading our impact report. We hope you find it an interesting examination of the work of the APPG for Future Generations.The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Future Generations was established in 2017 with a view to represent and to safeguard the rights of future generations and to push back on political short termism. We support our Members and Parliamentarians to fairly consider the interests of all future generations and ensure that they have the resources to work and plan for the long-term.
To effectively assess the impact that our work has had over the past year, we have produced this report which details both the clear, and likely impact that the APPG has had from 1st March 2019 - 31st May 2020.
Like many APPGs we are funded by various charitable actors: the Centre for Effective Altruism, the Berkley Existential Risk Initiative, the Long Term Future Fund and the Survival and Flourishing Fund. This report demonstrates to our funders how an active APPG can play a role in moving debate forward, as well as facilitatin...
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