Technical Governance Researcher

ABOUT MIRI The Machine Intelligence Research Institute https://intelligence.org/ (MIRI) is a nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, focused on reducing existential risks from the transition to smarter-than-human AI. We've historically been very focused on technical alignment research. Since summer 2023, we have shifted our focus towards communication and AI governance. See our strategy update post https://intelligence.org/2024/01/04/miri-2024-mission-and-strategy-update/ for more details. ABOUT THE TECHNICAL GOVERNANCE TEAM We are looking to build a dynamic and versatile team that can quickly produce a large range of research outputs for the technical governance space. Please feel free to fill out this form, or contact us at techgov@intelligence.org. We focus on researching and designing technical aspects of regulations and policy that could lead to safe AI. The team works on: - Inputs into regulations, requests for comments by policy bodies (e.g. NIST/US AISI, EU, UN) - Technical research to improve international coordination - Limitations of current AI safety proposals and policies - Communicating with and consulting for policymakers and governance organizations Our previous publications are available on our website https://techgov.intelligence.org/research if you would like to read them. See our research agenda https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.04592 for the kinds of future projects we are excited about. ABOUT THE ROLE In this role, you would have the chance to work on all of the above areas. The work will be a mixture of researching, writing (for internal and external use), and engaging with collaborators and policymakers. Most of the day-to-day work is a combination of reading, writing, and meetings. Some example activities could include: - Threat modeling, working out how AI systems could cause large-scale harm, and hopefully what actions could be taken to prevent this - Responding to a US government agency’s Request for Comment - Learning about risk management pra