Better Futures Fellowship is a 9-week program for people deciding whether better-futures work should become their focus
Better-futures work is research and fieldbuilding aimed at improving how good the future is, conditional on humanity surviving. Most longtermist effort goes into making sure there is a future at all; this fellowship is about the other half — making that future go well. It pairs a five-week facilitated discussion course, anchored in research by William MacAskill and colleagues at Forethought Institute, with a four-week project phase in which every fellow ships a public output.
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Applications are open! Apply as a participant or facilitator.
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| Format | Remote |
|---|---|
| Structure | 9 weeks: a 5-week discussion course + a 4-week project phase |
| Cohort size | 4–8 fellows plus a trained facilitator |
| Time commitment | ~5 hours/week (weeks 1–5), ~5–10 hours/week (weeks 6–9) |
| Cost | Free |
| Certificate | Certificate upon completion |
| Track record | 2,361 applicants, 1000+ participants, 173 trained facilitators · 8.97/10 average recommendation - across 11 iterations of various AI safety courses |
Drawn from Forethought Institute's Better Futures research program, developed with feedback from Forethought's team. This fellowship is independent and isn’t run by or affiliated with Forethought.
Explore the Better Futures series →
| Week | Theme |
|---|---|
| 1 | Why flourishing, not just survival |
| 2 | The intelligence explosion and grand challenges |
| 3 | What would a good future actually be? |
| 4 | Power concentration: who ends up controlling AGI? |
| 5 | AI character, epistemics, and choosing your lever |
| 6–9 | Project phase — every fellow ships a public output |