Research Scientist

FAR AI is seeking applications from both experienced and first-time Research Scientists, who are looking to develop and execute on a safety research agenda and/or accelerate our existing projects.

About us

FAR AI is a research organization that incubates and accelerates neglected but high-potential AI safety research agendas.

FAR AI’s mission is to ensure AI systems are trustworthy and beneficial to society. Broadly speaking, our research is focused on how AI can learn about humans’ goals and then robustly help humans achieve them. Our expertise is in reinforcement learning (RL), one of the most general frameworks for building transformative AI. In our prior work, we have developed ways to measure the goals of RL agents and teach a single agent to achieve many different goals. We have also identified a new threat model for attacking RL systems, vulnerabilities in narrowly superhuman systems and developed a method to make RL systems more robust.

About the role

We are seeking applications from potential Research Scientists who can:

  • Take ownership of and accelerate existing AI Alignment research agendas.
  • Develop their own exciting AI Alignment research agendas.
  • Lead novel research projects where there may be unclear markers of progress and/or success.
  • Contribute to the development of best practices for AI safety research at FAR AI and in the broader community.
  • Publish research findings and engage with the AI safety community.

About you

We are excited by unconventional backgrounds.

You may have the following:

  • New and under-explored AI Alignment idea(s).
  • Experience leading and/or playing a senior role in research projects related to machine learning.
  • Ability to effectively communicate novel methods and solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • PhD or several years research experience in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning or statistics.

Logistics

You could be an employee or an independent Contractor for FAR AI, a 501(c)(3) research non-profit.

  • Location: Both remote and in-person (Berkeley, CA) are possible. We sponsor visas for in-person employees, and can also hire remotely in most countries.
  • Hours: Full-time (40 hours/week).
  • Compensation: $100,000-$175,000/year depending on experience and location. We will also pay for work-related travel and equipment expenses. We offer catered lunch and dinner at our offices in Berkeley.
  • Application process: A 90-minute programming assessment, 2 1-hour interviews, and a 1-2 week paid work trial. If you are not available for a work trial we may be able to find alternative ways of testing your fit.

Please apply! If you have any questions about the role, please do get in touch at hello@far.ai.