
This post lists all the EA-relevant documentaries, movies, and TV series I've watched since learning about EA in 2017. This post is inspired by the list MichaelA made for EA-relevant books/audiobooks he found useful.
There’s also a similar list for EA-relevant podcasts and YouTube channels, but none yet for EA-relevant films/series (as far as I know). There was a post crowdsourcing for altruistic movie suggestions, but it only got a few answers, so I decided to make this list. (Lewis Bollard wrote a post though with documentaries on farm animal welfare.)
I’ve consumed a lot of EA-relevant books and podcast episodes, but I’ve also consumed ~30 documentaries, movies, or TV shows that have relevance to effective altruism and a cause or topic within it. For most of these, I specifically watched them because of their relevance to EA.
As such, I’m listing them all below, in roughly descending order of how useful I remember them being to me. For some of these, I include why I found them useful and/or entertaining.
Caveats / notes about the list
- Obviously, something I find useful or entertaining might not be useful for or entertaining to you, especially if you have different cause area interests. But I think a lot of EAs would find some of these titles also useful or entertaining.
- I'm interested in multiple EA causes, and I wanted to learn about them in an engaging way, so that's why this list features titles from various causes and topics. This is especially important since I'm a community builder who talks to people with different cause interests.
- I also listed at the bottom other films or TV shows that have some relevance to EA, perhaps recommended by other EAs, but I haven't watched yet.
- This list is not meant to be exhaustive. I'd imagine there are ~10-30 other films or TV shows relevant to EA that I might have missed. If there are films or shows you would recommend that I missed and are somewhat relevant to EA, whether for the information in them or their entertainment value, feel free to comment them below!
How I found these titles
I found out about these titles mainly through searching keywords on Netflix about each cause or topic (i.e. "artificial intelligence"), while a few were found by Googling "films about [insert cause/topic]".
I’ve included below what cause or topics each of these titles fall under. I also include a list at the bottom where I split these films by cause/topic, if you mainly care about watching films on a specific cause or topic.
The ranked list (across all topics/causes)
- Next
- TV Series (Fiction), 1 season, 10 episodes (~45 mins each)
- Topic: AI Safety
- Why it was useful: Next is a 2020 sci-fi crime drama TV series that vividly explores what might happen when a big tech company creates a dangerous superintelligence. This was first recommended by another EA I know, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. The show's creator, Manny Coto, read up a lot on AI safety to create the show. Jaan Tallinn also talked about how he liked the show in our fireside chat in EAGxAsia-Pacific. I was familiar with AI safety already before watching this show, but watching it made it more concrete and memorable on what would happen if a superintelligence is created. Unfortunately, the TV series got cancelled only after 1 season, but the one season is great on its own.
- The show is available via YouTube TV for those in the U.S., or those who have a VPN.
- Eating Animals
- Documentary
- Topic: Animal Welfare
- Why it was useful: I watched Earthlings already in 2019 before watching this in 2020. But this documentary focused more on the problem of factory farming than Earthlings, and it was eye-opening. Bruce Friedrich from GFI is also interviewed here.
- Pandemic
- Documentary
- Topics: Global Health and Development, Biosecurity
- On Netflix
- Why it was useful: I watched this in February 2020, before we had lockdowns in Manila, but when COVID-19 was already affecting other parts of the world. It made me realize the importance of preparing for pandemics, wearing PPEs, and how we’re not prepared for pandemics / epidemics.
- Contagion
- Movie
- Topic: Biosecurity
- On Netflix
- Why it was useful: Helped me understand pandemics more and how people and institutions would react. I watched this in February 2020, before COVID-19 forced Manila and many other places around the world into lockdown.
- AlphaGo
- Documentary
- Topic: AI Safety
- on YouTube
- Why it was useful: It’s a cool story of how DeepMind developed AlphaGo, and how it was able to beat a top Go player, Lee Sedol.
- The Social Dilemma
- Documentary
- Topics: Existential Risk, Improving Institutional-Decision Making, Mental Health
- on Netflix
- A Thousand Cuts
- Documentary
- Topics: Global Health and Development, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
- on YouTube
- Why it was useful: I’m from the Philippines, and this documentary features the current Philippine government’s attacks against the press and its critics, and how the government has used social media to spread disinformation and gain power. I think this film is a Philippine version/counterpart of The Social Dilemma.
- The Great Hack
- Documentary
- Topics: Social Media, Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
- on Netflix
- Inside Bill’s Brain
- Documentary - 3 episodes (~52 mins each)
- Global Health and Development, Climate Change
- Why it was useful: It features the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s work on global health (sanitation and vaccination) and climate change. It’s also cool to just get to know Bill Gates more.
- On Netflix
- Black Mirror
- TV Series
- Topics: AI, Social Media, Technology
- on Netflix
- Earthlings
- Documentary
- Topic: Animal Welfare
- available on Vimeo for free
- Transcendence
- Movie
- Topic: AI Safety
- on Netflix
- Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
- Documentary
- Topic: Hong Kong, China, Great Power Conflict
- on Netflix
- The Edge of Democracy
- Documentary
- Topic: Brazil's Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
- on Netflix
- Knock Down The House
- Documentary
- Topic: U.S. Politics, Improving Institutional-Decision Making
- on Netflix
- Snowden
- Movie
- Topic: Surveillance
- on Netflix
- A Life on our Planet
- Documentary
- Topics: Climate Change, Wild Animal Welfare
- on Netflix
- The White Helmets
- Documentary
- Topic: Syrian Conflict, Global Development
- on Netflix
- An Inconvenient Sequel
- Documentary
- Topic: Climate Change
- on Netflix
- I, Robot
- Movie
- Topic: AI Safety
- on Netflix
- House of Cards
- TV Series
- Topic: U.S. Politics
- on Netflix
- I didn't finish this - I watched ~5 episodes of it, then just read the synopsis/plot
- A Plastic Ocean
- Documentary
- Topics: Climate Change, Environmental Degradation
- on Netflix
- The Good Place
- TV Series
- Topic: Philosophy / Moral Philosophy
- on Netflix
- Haven't finished this yet - I think I watched the first 2 seasons only
- Minimalism
- Documentary
- Topic: Minimalism
- on Netflix
- Forks Over Knives
- Documentary
- Topic: Animal Welfare, Plant-Based Proteins
- Unnatural Selection (Note: I haven't finished watching things on this list from 26-30, nor do I recommend them. They were interesting, but I didn't have a lot of motivation to continue watching them).
- Documentary
- Topic: Biosecurity
- Description: "Pioneers in gene-editing techniques and artificial intelligence confront ethical and technological challenges unlike what humanity has faced before."
- on Netflix
- Haven't finished this yet, just watched 1-2 episodes. Kevin Esvelt, biologist from MIT, is featured here, and he has given talks in EA Globals before.
- Salvation
- TV Series
- Topic: Existential Risk and Asteroids
- on Netflix
- Didn't finish this, just watched 2-3 episodes and read the plot
- I Am Mother
- Movie
- Topic: AI Safety, Existential Risk
- on Netflix
- Haven't finished this yet, am only 1 hour through it
- Better Than Us
- TV Series
- Topic: AI Safety
- on Netflix
- Didn't finish this, just watched 1 episode so far
- Biohackers
- TV Series
- Topic: Relevant to Biosecurity
- on Netflix
- Didn't finish this, just watched 1-2 episodes and read the plot
The list split by cause/topic, and ranked within the cause/topic
Some of the films are put in more than one cause/topic.
AI Safety / Risks
Animal Welfare
Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness
Climate Change
Global Health and Development
Improving Institutional Decision-Making / Avoiding Great Power Conflict / Politics
- The Great Hack
- The Social Dilemma
- A Thousand Cuts
- Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower
- The Edge of Democracy
- Knock Down The House
Others
Other titles I haven’t watched, but are somewhat EA-relevant
- The Man Who Saved the World
- Documentary
- Topic: Nuclear Warfare
- on YouTube
- This is a documentary that depicts the story of how Stanislav Petrov averted a possible full-scale nuclear war. I watched about 15 minutes of this only (the exciting parts), but those 15 minutes were cool to watch.
- Okja
- Movie
- Topic: Animal Welfare
- on Netflix
- Bending the Arc
- Documentary
- Topic: Global Health and Development
- on Netflix
- Carnage
- Mockumentary
- Topic: Animal Welfare
- The Game Changers
- Documentary
- Topic: Animal Welfare, Plant-Based Diets
- on Netflix
- Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
- Documentary
- Topic: Psychedelics
- on Netflix
- Spycraft
- Documentary
- Topic: Surveillance
- on Netflix
- The Minimalists: Less is Now
- Documentary
- Topic: Minimalism
- on Netflix
- Connected
- Documentary Series
- Topics: Nuclear Warfare, Surveillance
- on Netflix
Again, please comment below any films or shows I might have missed! I hope this list is useful for you. Maybe some of these films or shows can help you learn about an EA cause or topic in a more engaging way.
Seaspiracy is a great documentary. Truly shocking. I knew trillions marine animals are killed each year by fishing. But I did not realize the ocean may become empty in a few decades.