David Danks, professor of philosophy, artificial intelligence, and data science at the University of Virginia, has been awarded a $1 million three-year senior fellowship for a project on “human-AI value coevolution.”
The fellowship is from Schmidt Sciences, a science-supporting philanthropic organization founded by Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO) and his wife, Wendy.
The Senior Fellowships are part of the Schmidt Sciences “AI2050” initiative, which funds research to “address the most important long-term problems in AI which need to be solved for AI to be truly beneficial to society by 2050.”
Professor Danks’ AI2050 project is described as follows:
Beneficial AI supports our values, but current systems focus only on our present goals and needs. Previous technologies have changed our values; we should expect that AI will similarly impact us. AI systems are also increasingly learning from and adapting to us. Our and AI values will thus likely coevolve over time, each changing the other. Effective design of AI that is beneficial both today and into the future requires understanding these dynamics, both possible and actual. Danks’ research project will develop the required multidisciplinary understanding of human-AI value coevolution, including practical guidance for AI design, development, and governance.
Danks is the only philosopher among the six newly selected Senior Fellows. There are no philosophers among the 22 Early Career Fellows.
The full list of fellows is here.
(via Shen-yi Liao)
