Research Scientist, Societal Harms of AI

Key Skills

Apache Hadoop, C Programming, C++, Data science techniques, Java Programming, Machine learning techniques, MapReduce, Python Programming, PyTorch, R Programming, Scala Programming, SQL, TensorFlow

Job Description

OpenAI’s mission is to develop safe artificial general intelligence (“AGI”) that benefits all of humanity. While we are a US-based organization, this mission transcends borders. Our ability to deeply understand the actual and potential harms of our decisions and of AI more broadly is critical to achieving this mission.

As a Research Scientist on the Policy Research team at OpenAI, you’ll contribute directly to short-term and long-term analyses that inform OpenAI’s strategies as we pursue responsible research and deployment of our AI systems. We are looking for a researcher who is excited to collaborate across the technical and policy teams in the organization. The role will involve conducting research of immediate relevance to OpenAI decision-making but a researcher in this role will also have a broad remit to conduct and publish research following their own agenda, and latitude to collaborate with relevant external scholars.

The ideal candidate will be self-directed and will enjoy asking foundational research questions, creative research design, analytical problem solving, and engaging broad audiences with their research.

Example research questions might include:

• How might we understand, measure, and anticipate potential harms of systems, such as denigration, manipulation, erosion of social institutions, environmental impact, or unrecoverable catastrophe?
• How do we work with different interests (e.g. labor, governments, etc.) to help bridge knowledge gaps of current and future AI development and processes?
• How do we design better evaluations for AI models to understand their likelihood of causing harm in different contexts?

Representative responsibilities

• Own and pursue a research agenda aimed at understanding the potential and actual harms of AI systems.
• Understand and clearly communicate risks of harm to decision-makers at OpenAI.
• Advise our technical and applied teams on AI harms dimensions of decisions

Requirements

• PhD in a relevant area (e.g. sociology, economics, or political science), or relevant research experience and an established research track record, demonstrated by journal publications and/or conference papers.
• Demonstrated commitment to understanding and addressing harms of AI.
• Strong writing and communication skills.
• Experience building out quantitative evaluations and communicating clearly about their appropriate use and limitations a plus.
• Technical understanding of and familiarity with recent development in AI a plus.

About OpenAI

We’re building safe Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and ensuring it leads to a good outcome for humans. We believe that unreasonably great results are best delivered by a highly creative group working in concert. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

This position is subject to a background check for any convictions directly related to its duties and responsibilities. Only job-related convictions will be considered and will not automatically disqualify the candidate. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodations via accommodation@openai.com.

Benefits

- Health, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family

- Unlimited time off (we encourage 4+ weeks per year)

- Parental leave

- Flexible work hours

- Lunch and dinner each day

- 401(k) plan with matching