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joecarlsmith.com · by Joe Carlsmith · clipped 2025-11-04
Preview clipped from the web into my Obsidian — read the full piece at the source.
I’m a writer, researcher, and philosopher. Until recently I was a senior advisor at Open Philanthropy, where I focused on existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence. I also write independently about various topics in philosophy and futurism, and I have a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford.
Much of my work is about trying to help us orient wisely towards humanity’s long-term future. I see this work as fitting a loose logical structure, with questions about and at the foundation, feeding into questions about (and especially about effective altruism), which motivate concern for the , which motivates attention to advanced in particular – and a further strand of my work (what I’m calling the “” strand) grapples with some of the stranger places that further philosophical reflection of this broad sort can lead. I also sometimes write about topics in the , and about other aspects of my overall (death, evil, clinging, sincerity).
I recently completed a series of essays called ” Otherness and control in the age of AGI ” (PDF here), which mixes a lot of these topics together. You can listen to me discuss this series on the Dwarkesh Podcast here.
You can learn more about me here.
My CV is here.
My twitter is @jkcarlsmith.
My email is joseph [dot] k [dot] carlsmith @ gmail [dot] com.
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See here for audio versions of the essays, or search “Joe Carlsmith Audio” on your podcast app.
Leaving Open Philanthropy, going to Anthropic
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On a career move, and on AI-safety-focused people working at AI companies.
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2025/11/03/leaving-open-philanthropy-going-to-anthropic)[
How do we solve the alignment problem? / Part 8: Controlling the options AIs can pursue
On blocking paths to power, and on making deals.
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2025/09/29/controlling-the-options-ais-can-pursue)[
Video and transcript of talk on giving AIs safe motivations
From a talk at UT Austin in September 2025.
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2025/09/21/video-and-transcript-of-talk-on-giving-ais-safe-motivations)[Is Power-Seeking AI an Existential Risk?](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.13353.pdf)
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Otherness and control in the age of AGI / Part 1: Otherness and control in the age of AGI
Introduction and summary for a series of essays about how agents with different values should relate to one another, and about the ethics of seeking and sharing power.
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2024/01/02/otherness-and-control-in-the-age-of-agi)[
Actually possible: thoughts on Utopia
There are oceans we have barely dipped a toe into. There are drums and symphonies we can barely hear. There are suns whose heat we can barely feel on our skin.
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2021/01/18/actually-possible-thoughts-on-utopia)[Why should ethical anti-realists do ethics?](https://joecarlsmith.com/2023/02/16/why-should-ethical-anti-realists-do-ethics)
Who needs a system if you’re free?
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Continue reading
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2023/02/16/why-should-ethical-anti-realists-do-ethics)[Seeing more whole](https://joecarlsmith.com/2023/02/17/seeing-more-whole)
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On looking out of your own eyes.
02.17.2023
Continue reading
](https://joecarlsmith.com/2023/02/17/seeing-more-whole)[On the limits of idealized values](https://joecarlsmith.com/2021/06/21/on-the-limits-of-idealized-values)
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