Research Scientist, Harmful Manipulation, DeepMind

Google DeepMind; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 129,000 - 187,000; Full time

Job summary

Google DeepMind is seeking a Senior Research Scientist for the Responsible Development and Innovation team to study Harmful Manipulation risks in AI systems. You will design evaluations, investigate model-user interactions, publish methodologies, and support governance decisions while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The role emphasizes bridging research and practical deployments, contributing to safer AI products used by billions and shaping policy discussions with external

Qualifications

• PhD degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing evaluations or studies to investigate AI manipulation, persuasion, or related social phenomena.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement evaluations identifying Harmful Manipulation-related capabilities and risks; publish on novel methodologies and insights.
• Collaborate across teams to carry out risk assessments, ensuring deployment safeguards are adequate for high-capability models.
• Support mitigation efforts by working with evaluation and mitigation teams and providing actionable insights.
• Engage with external researchers and stakeholders, including government bodies and safety institutes.

Skills

Evaluation design

Research design

Education

PhD or equivalent in related field

Job description

Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: New York, NY, USA; London, UK; Mountain View, CA, USA.

Minimum qualifications

• PhD degree in Psychology, Political Science, Computational Social Science, Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing evaluations or studies to investigate the intersections of technology and manipulation, persuasion, social engineering, or related social phenomena.

Preferred qualifications

• Track record of driving complex projects, including in research settings.
• Track record of publications in high impact domain-relevant conferences or journals (NeurIPS, CHI, FAccT, etc).
• Ability to leverage AI tools to build and accelerate research pipelines or safety benchmark development.
• Commitment to translating research insights into practical applications and working with cross-functional teams.

About The Job

At DeepMind, the frontier of AI brings extraordinary opportunities and unprecedented responsibilities.

As part of the Responsible Development and Innovation (ReDI) team, you will be responsible for researching emerging risks within the Harmful Manipulation risk domain, developing and implementing novel evaluations to drive understanding of AI-driven harmful manipulation. Your work will range from conducting technical investigations, probing how DeepMind’s most advanced AI models interact with and influence users, to informing mitigation and governance decisions, to publishing on novel methodologies and engaging with external stakeholders. You will have an opportunity to bridge research and practice, contributing novel approaches to help inform model development and deployment.

Artificial intelligence will be one of humanity’s most transformative inventions. At Google DeepMind, we are a pioneering AI lab with exceptional interdisciplinary teams focused on advancing AI development to solve complex global challenges and accelerate high-quality product innovation for billions of users. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, ensuring safety and ethics are always our highest priority.

We are pushing the boundaries across multiple domains. Our global teams offer diverse learning opportunities and varied career pathways for those driven to achieve exceptional results through collective effort.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $174000 - $252000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits

Responsibilities

Learn more about benefits at Google.

• Partner cross-functionally to design and implement evaluations identifying Harmful Manipulation-related capabilities and risks; publish on novel methodologies and capabilities insights
• Collaborate across teams to carry out holistic risk assessments, including determining if deployment safeguards are adequate for high-capability models.
• Work across evaluation and mitigation teams to assist mitigation efforts, while collaborating across Google to provide novel and actionable insights.
• Engage with external research community and stakeholders, including governmental entities, national safety institutes, third-party organisations (including the Frontier Model Forum), external subject matter experts, and academic communities.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.