Biosecurity as an EA cause area

Abstract

The Open Philanthropy Project prioritizes the mitigation of Global Catastrophic Biological Risks (GCBRs), focusing on the potential for engineered pathogens to cause large-scale devastation. It ranks this threat as a high priority but acknowledges that more research is needed to better understand the nature and scale of the risk. The organization emphasizes the potential for deliberate attacks as the most likely source of GCBRs, rather than natural outbreaks or accidental releases, and argues that advances in gene editing technology and the increasing availability of biological capabilities contribute significantly to the risk. The Open Philanthropy Project contrasts the work on biosecurity with efforts to align advanced artificial intelligence, arguing that the former focuses on preventing negative consequences, while the latter seeks to maximize positive outcomes. – AI-generated abstract.