I am currently an independent AI policy researcher and have held various related research and management roles. I worked at OpenAI from 2018 through 2024, first as Research Scientist on the Policy team, then as Head of Policy Research, and finally as Senior Advisor for AGI Readiness. I left in 2024 and described my rationale and next steps here. I periodically share updates on my thinking at that Substack.
Before joining OpenAI, I was a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute from 2016-2018. I am a member of the AI Task Force at the Center for a New American Security. From 2018 through 2022, I served a member of Axon's AI and Policing Technology Ethics Board.
I completed a PhD in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology from Arizona State University in 2019. My dissertation committee consisted of David Guston (chair), Erik Fisher, Joanna Bryson, and Lauren Keeler. My academic research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Future of Life Institute.
Prior to graduate school, I worked at the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) for two years, and interned for the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). Before that, I completed various internships related to energy policy while getting a BA in Political Science at George Washington University.
If you want to get in touch about something, my contact information can be found in the upper right corner of the page (email is preferred), though note that I may take a while to respond.
If you are just interested in briefly chatting about your research or career plans, you can skip email and schedule something here though please read this first.
Image credits for banner picture: Dylan Cole.