Switching from global health to AI safety: one grantmaker's candid career reflection
austinc3301 · x · 2026-11-14
Calum Best recently moved from GiveWell, a global health grantmaker, to Coefficient Giving to work on AI safety. Since then, at least 20 people from global health have asked him the same question: should I switch to AI safety?
Strikingly, most already agreed that AI risk is big and urgent, that it can be reduced, and that too few people work on it — yet they weren't applying, networking, or doing anything to move the decision forward. The author admits he was the same: he bought the case for AI safety back in 2023 and got pitched relevant roles for two years before finally switching a month ago.
His arc: inventing reasons to avoid a scary change → stern but loving pushback from friends and mentors → quickly resolving the few genuinely reasonable concerns → making the switch. Written for anyone whose beliefs and actions are similarly out of sync.
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