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Blueprints for AI Safety Conferences - EA Forum
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A practical proposal from the EA Forum outlining event formats and theory of change for AI safety conferences, useful for field-builders and community organizers looking to strengthen the AI safety ecosystem.
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eaforum
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AI safetyBuilding effective altruismBuilding the field of AI safetyConferencesEvent strategyTheory of change
Part of sequence: Building Capacity
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Importance: 38/100blog postanalysis
Summary
This post proposes a theory of change for AI safety conferences, arguing they are essential infrastructure for a fast-moving field. It outlines four event formats—online conferences, regional one-day summits, three-day conferences, and high-profile bridge-building events—each designed to foster community, coordinate efforts, and build external legitimacy for the AI safety field.
Key Points
- •Conferences help AI safety attendees form connections, coordinate efforts, discover career paths, and gain clarity on next steps.
- •Four proposed formats: online (scalable/low-cost), regional one-day summits (accessible entry points), three-day events (deep engagement), and bridge-building events (cross-community).
- •High-profile bridge-building events aim to connect diverse communities working on AI safety, increasing external legitimacy.
- •The author frames conferences as critical movement infrastructure that strengthens both internal alignment and public credibility.
- •The post provides practical blueprints intended to help organizers design and run effective AI safety events.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| EA Global | Organization | 38.0 |
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# Blueprints for AI Safety conferences (FBB #9)
By gergo
Published: 2025-08-07
TLDR: We need more AI Risk-themed events, so I outlined four such events with different strategies. These are: online conferences, one-day summits, three-day conferences and high-profile events for building bridges between various communities.
End of tldr:
I have just written a [post critiquing Stuart Russell’s AI Safety and Ethics conference](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/8Ky7QxQk2NDyNaWB4/how-stuart-russels-s-iaseai-conference-failed-to-live-up-to-1?utm_campaign=post_share&utm_source=link) \- I think it’s only fair that I share my take on what more impactful AI risk events could look like.
Conferences are a brilliant, if not **essential,** way of generating focus, community and consensus. In a field as young and fast-moving as AI safety, that’s all the more the case. Sadly, I feel like we are short on making enough of these events happen at the moment.
To anchor the value of such events, I propose a general Theory of Change (TOC) for AI Safety conferences. Events like these can lead attendees to:
* Form connections
* Coordinate efforts
* Learn about career paths and cause areas
* Build motivation and clarity on next steps
These changes increase the hours and resources dedicated to AI Safety work, improving infrastructure and the quality of contributions. Over time, this leads to:
* Greater alignment within the professional community
* Stronger advocacy and external legitimacy
* A more attractive and resilient movement
Ultimately, we’re reinforcing pathways that create a stronger movement, powered by the connections and insight fostered by these events. See the graph shown below here.
See the graph shown below here.
I will now outline different types of events that might emulate this process, with the fourth event type going even further.
*Disclaimer: While I haven’t yet run a large-scale conference, I’ve attended many and consulted with experienced organizers to ground these suggestions in practical know-how.*
An online conference
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Why online?
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Online events are cost-effective, accessible, and scalable.
Currently, the only[^juj4u9whx3m] multi-day online programming on offer in the AI Safety movement is Apart Research’s hackathons. These hackathons are great, but have some limitations compared to online conferences. They mainly attract a technical crowd and offer limited networking opportunities compared to events with a dedicated networking app.
A well-facilitated online conference can bridge this gap.
Target audience
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**Existing AI Safety community**: Especially those already familiar with EAGx or similar formats. These attendees know how to use platforms like Swapcard and will benefit from dedicated AI Safety b
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