Researcher

The Future of Life Foundation; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full benefits

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

The Future of Life Foundation is seeking an AI safety researcher to analyze scenarios, identify risks, and advise early projects on roadmap viability. You will collaborate with founders and staff to translate concepts into launches, while delivering workshops and reports to the broader team.

Ideal candidates have strong research credentials, exceptional analytical abilities, and a demonstrated passion for steering transformative tech toward beneficial outcomes across civilizational scales.

Qualifications

• Willingness to seriously consider a range of AI scenarios and risks.
• Proven ability to perform high-quality research.
• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Passion for furthering AI safety.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and improve situational awareness on AI-related threats and opportunities.
• Notice and surface potentially impactful trends and scenarios.
• Anticipate vulnerabilities and opportunities for positive change.
• Investigate feasibility, core challenges and downside risks of early visions.
• Collaborate with founders and project staff to move roadmaps from concept to launch.
• Act as research advisor to nascent projects and organisations.
• Evaluate projects in motion and inform decisions to continue, expand or redirect.
• Deliver workshops, presentations and reports with wider team support.

Skills

AI safety writing

Research excellence

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Founding experience

Job description

Responsibilities

• Maintain and improve FLF's situational awareness and scenario foresight, especially on AI
• Notice and surface potentially impactful trends and scenarios
• Anticipate civilisational vulnerabilities and opportunities for positive change
• Investigate feasibility, core challenges and downside risks of early visions
• Work with founders and project staff to take roadmaps from concept to launch
• Act as research advisor to nascent projects and organisations
• Evaluate projects in motion and inform decisions to continue, expand or redirect
• Deliver workshops, presentations and reports with wider team support

Requirements

• Willingness to seriously consider a range of AI scenarios and risks
• Proven ability to perform high-quality research
• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, communication and problem-solving skills
• Passion for furthering AI safety

Preferred Qualifications

• High-quality writing ability
• Experience developing software and AI applications
• Experience founding new organisations
• Familiarity with government, national security or thinktanks
• Publications in top-tier venues or relevant academic experience

Benefits

• Compensation competitive with Bay Area tech roles (excluding equity), plus full benefits
• US visa sponsorship available

About the Company

The Future of Life Foundation is a 501(c)(3) research non-profit focused on steering transformative technology toward benefiting life and away from extreme large-scale risks.