In the spirit of “just doing things,” I called my house reps and senators today for my current state (California) and my native state (Nevada). I explained the recent news out of OpenAI and expressed support of the AI Kill Switch Act.
I’ve never actually called Congresspeople before, but it went well! Polite staff, numbers easily found online, 30 min to tick through all the people. Anyone that hasn’t done this yet, I encourage you to do so!
Yes! Calling your Congresspeople is surprisingly easy! You don’t need to prepare brilliant arguments, or to win over staffers. It is OK to be massively awkward, or to read off some notes you wrote beforehand. What you’re doing when you call is creating a database entry containing:
The name or number of a bill.
Whether you oppose or support it.
Your name and street address (which will normally need to be in their district).
There is no database column for “has excellent social skills” or “wasn’t awkward at all.” Even if you do have something brilliant to say, it may only make it into the database as shorthand, at the very best.
These database entries get summed up and affect how the staffers and Congressperson plan. For example, there is a big difference between “No constituent has ever called us about the AI Kill Switch Act”, and “1,000 constituents have called us in favor of the AI Kill Switch Act.” What kind of action this turns into depends on what kind of Congressperson you have.
The leverage you get by calling comes from the fact that most people don’t call. So when you do call, you represent some nebulous larger group of voters who probably agree with you. And by calling, you say that this is important enough for you to actually take a concrete action. That is, you’re saying that this is a high-salience issue for you and that you’re probably the sort of person who shows up to vote, or who talks to other voters.
In EA terms, calling your Congressperson is a low-cost action. Multiplied by a group of callers and multiple districts, it can potentially affect legislative outcomes for one of the world’s major powers. Success is not guaranteed. But for the effort invested, it’s often not a bad intervention at all.
In the spirit of “just doing things,” I called my house reps and senators today for my current state (California) and my native state (Nevada). I explained the recent news out of OpenAI and expressed support of the AI Kill Switch Act.
I’ve never actually called Congresspeople before, but it went well! Polite staff, numbers easily found online, 30 min to tick through all the people. Anyone that hasn’t done this yet, I encourage you to do so!
Yes! Calling your Congresspeople is surprisingly easy! You don’t need to prepare brilliant arguments, or to win over staffers. It is OK to be massively awkward, or to read off some notes you wrote beforehand. What you’re doing when you call is creating a database entry containing:
The name or number of a bill.
Whether you oppose or support it.
Your name and street address (which will normally need to be in their district).
There is no database column for “has excellent social skills” or “wasn’t awkward at all.” Even if you do have something brilliant to say, it may only make it into the database as shorthand, at the very best.
These database entries get summed up and affect how the staffers and Congressperson plan. For example, there is a big difference between “No constituent has ever called us about the AI Kill Switch Act”, and “1,000 constituents have called us in favor of the AI Kill Switch Act.” What kind of action this turns into depends on what kind of Congressperson you have.
The leverage you get by calling comes from the fact that most people don’t call. So when you do call, you represent some nebulous larger group of voters who probably agree with you. And by calling, you say that this is important enough for you to actually take a concrete action. That is, you’re saying that this is a high-salience issue for you and that you’re probably the sort of person who shows up to vote, or who talks to other voters.
In EA terms, calling your Congressperson is a low-cost action. Multiplied by a group of callers and multiple districts, it can potentially affect legislative outcomes for one of the world’s major powers. Success is not guaranteed. But for the effort invested, it’s often not a bad intervention at all.
I’m so curious what the level of context you encountered was, were they already familiar?