Why AGI could be here soon and what you can do about it: a primer

I’m writing a new guide to careers to help artificial general intelligence (AGI) go well. Here’s a summary of the bottom lines that’ll be in the guide as it stands. Stay tuned to hear our full reasoning and updates as our views evolve.
In short:
- The chance of an AGI-driven technological explosion before 2030 — creating one of the most pivotal periods in history — is high enough to act on.
- Since this transition poses major risks, and relatively few people are focused on navigating them, if you might be able to do something that helps, that’s likely the highest-impact thing you can do.
- There are now many organisations with hundreds of jobs that could concretely help (many of which are non technical).
- If you already have some experience (e.g. age 25+), typically the best path is to spend 20–200 hours reading about AI and meeting people in the field, then applying to jobs at organisations you’re aligned with — this both sets you up to have an impact relatively soon and advance in the field. If you can’t get a job right away, figure out the minimum additional skills, connections, and credentials you’d need, then get those.
- If you’re at the start of your career (or need to reskill), you might be able to get an entry-level job or start a fellowship right away in order to learn rapidly. Otherwise, spend 1–3 years building whichever skill set listed below is the best fit for you.


















