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We were at the Effective Altruism Istanbul Summit

On 24 October, we joined the Effective Altruism Istanbul Summit with talks and a booth; with four sessions devoted to AI safety, the topic was firmly on the agenda.

Five team members at the Effective Altruism Istanbul Summit, standing on either side of an AI Safety Türkiye banner reading “AI is changing the world” in Turkish

We attended the Effective Altruism Istanbul Summit, held on Saturday, 24 October, as invited guests, and were there all day with both talks and our booth. The summit programme included four sessions devoted to AI safety. A few years ago, it would have been hard for this topic to take up this much space on the agenda of an event in Türkiye.

In her talk “Why Does AI Safety Matter So Much?”, Bengüsu Özcan covered the pace of AI progress, the risks it brings, and the steps that can be taken against those risks today.

Bengüsu Özcan giving her talk at the summit, holding a microphone

Berke Çelik moderated the meetup “AI Is Going Off the Rails, What Happens Now?” and led a discussion with participants on the trajectory of AI and its possible risks.

At our booth, Hatice Kübra Çetin, Andrés Casas and Alparslan Bayrak spoke with attendees throughout the day. Most of the questions came down to one: “What can I do about this?” For us, that is the most valuable question of all.

The summit also featured other talks approaching the topic from different angles. Nesibe Kırış Can from AIGP spoke on “Near-Term Risks of AI”, and Fırat Akova on “AI, Democracy and the Concentration of Power”. People approaching the same issue with different questions coming together in the same room also shows how far the field has come in Türkiye.

As a remote team, we rarely get to meet in person. This summit was one of the rare days we could all be in the same place.

We thank the Effective Altruism team for the invitation and the careful organisation, and everyone who contributed to the summit.