Hanging out my shingle

1 The most urgent thing

I need to scope what I mean by impact. For the current purposes, it’s AI safety. I think we’re mishandling every aspect of the transition to an AI-driven society. Many parts of this transition will likely go awry unless we invest in proper mitigations, and right now we’re not doing great.

My risk model here is broad.

• There’s a risk of perpetuating or exacerbating inequality across society.
• We stand a good chance of losing the delicate human understanding that underpins liberal society and democracy.
• There’s also the danger of total epistemic collapse, where we lose the ability to understand the world and make good decisions about it, drowning in a sea of AI slop
• Moreover, we face psychological risks of becoming alienated as machine intelligences infiltrate every aspect of our lives.
• We risk getting shot by autonomous weaponised drones as geopolitical tensions rise.
• And there’s the looming threat of autonomous intelligent algorithms spiralling out of control and causing untold harm to humanity.

We need to address all these issues, and quickly. The time to work on improving this situation is not after a disaster strikes, but before it does.

There are many other massive problems in society, but this is the one that will get us first, because software moves so damn fast. So we need to get it solved in order to work on the others. And it’s something I am very qualified to help with.

2 What I’m up for

I’m a voraciously curious, smart guy who’s good at hard intellectual work, especially mathematical work. I’m highly motivated by difficult problems and interesting intellectual challenges. I’m driven by working with people towards shared goals.

I could benefit from ideas, collaborations, roles, co-founders, mentorship. New contacts. Old contacts who didn’t know I was looking. I want help to work out what I do next to make a difference on that thing. Maybe you want to work with me?

I’m open for business, up for ideas, and ready to start things. I’m ready to join your project. I’m ready to found a new project. I’m looking for collaborators, co-founders, and employers. Solve an important scientific problem? Persuade an important institution to change its ways? Build a new institution?

The things I pursue should be impactful. Everything’s on the table right now. I’d work in your company, work for the government, or found a new venture. The key point here is that I’m prepared to trade prestige, esteem, and seniority for a chance to make tangible improvements.

Get in touch.

If you’re about to suggest some random non-impactful role, thank you kindly! But save your time. I don’t need help with a random non-impactful job just now; I can get those.

3 Skills

As my current role (research scientist in a major ICT research lab) hopefully indicates, I’m a skilled artificial intelligence and machine learning researcher.² I understand the mathematics of deep learning, linear algebra, probability theory, and physics modelling, and I’m one of those people who invent the algorithms that make the AI world progress. I publish papers in top-tier machine learning conferences, pushing forward the state of the art in these areas. In the world of machine learning research, my particular skill is breadth; I am the guy people go to to find the right tool for the weird job, because I know about many, many tools.

I’m a qualified statistician and data scientist, with qualifications from a range of reputable universities. I have a deep understanding of, and experience in, statistics, probability, and causal inference. I can design experiments, analyse data, and draw valid conclusions. I’m trained in econometrics, ecology, geospatial data analysis, and epidemiology.

I can code, of course. I’ve written reams of the stuff, but I’m not going to pitch that here, because if you wanted a software engineer, you’d hire a software engineer who had not spent 10 years honing their mathematical and statistical skills instead of coding.

I can run projects with human beings in them. I’ve managed lots of students, supervised a PhD, and run a number of conferences, workshops, and events. I’ve run projects in Southeast Asia, Switzerland, and Australia across multiple languages and multiple cultures. I’ve even organised bands, which is like organising a conference but musicians are more trouble than normal humans, so it counts double.

My conflict style and communication hygiene are excellent. I can bring people together, resolve disputes, and get things done.

I know how to get papers published and how to communicate effectively between different disciplines—between scientists and the public as well as among scientists of various specialisations. I’ve been a scientist in different fields myself.

I can write. In fact, I write constantly; I’ve penned over a million words on this blog and various other places, not just academic journals. I can write for different audiences, from technical papers to popular articles.

I’m not afraid of being in the spotlight—presenting myself publicly doesn’t faze me at all.

And yes—I am extroverted AF! I’m extremely good at getting to know people, socialising with them, and building bridges across cultural divides within and across nations. I’ve worked with people who have ADHD and autism; challenging individuals are no obstacle for me.

4 Constraints

5 Contact

Hit me up on my contact form, or email me at my email which is dan@thisdomain.

You can also check out my Funding proposals so far.