Survey the current curricula and develop updated versions for university groups to easily be able to pick up and run. Would likely include a general reading group (similar to BlueDot AGI Strategy) and possibly technical, governance, and/or futurism tracks.
About the project
Almost every university AI safety group runs an intro fellowship — typically 6–10 weeks of readings plus a facilitated discussion. Almost all of them are forks, or forks of forks, of a small number of curricula written in 2022–2023, that have been continually patched rather than actually updated. The field has changed a lot since then, and we now have a better understanding of how people pick up this content. So, the field could likely now use a much better grab-and-go version of the university group fellowship curriculum. There is also the possibility of altering the default format in a more fundamental way if we deem it to be desirable.
Theory of change
The intro fellowship curriculum is the most replicated artifact in the AI safety talent pipeline, and organisers are undergrads with no time to build one from scratch — so they copy whatever is easiest to copy. The current default is semi-out-of-date and far from optimal in terms of getting people into AI safety. A good rewrite could easily propagate throughout groups at low marginal cost. Nobody currently owns this, because individual organisers have local incentives to patch rather than rebuild.
Your role
Collect intro fellowship syllabi from as many groups as you can reach and build a structured comparison of what is taught, in what order, and with what activities. Then interview: current organisers and facilitators, recent fellows (including ones who dropped out or did nothing afterwards), and people on the receiving end, such as Pathfinder, MATS, ARENA, SPAR, etc.
Draft the curriculum. Most likely modular units, each with core readings, optional depth, facilitator notes, discussion questions, and possibly in-session activities. Run some pilot sessions and get feedback from random university group facilitators. This will likely be a large majority of the project.
Prerequisites
- Decently high AI safety context (at least slightly beyond that of an intro fellowship)
- Having organized or facilitated a fellowship yourself is a huge plus but isn't strictly required
- Some previous experience with making learning materials is desirable
Application question(s)
Please be concise with your writing, meaning you are welcome (and encouraged) to be well under the word count if you feel you answer the question completely. Do not use AI in any capacity for these questions.
Question 1: In your opinion, what should the main goal(s) be for a university group fellowship? If you believe there are multiple, please state how you would weigh each one. (150 words max)
Question 2: Look at the MIT AI Alignment curriculum (aialignment.mit.edu/aisf) and propose 1-3 concrete changes. This could be moving around some of the weeks, removing or replacing a week, adding or removing a specific reading or resource, or something similar. For each proposed change, please provide your considerations both in favor and against making this change. (350 words max)
Question 3 (optional): Link to something you have written, taught, or facilitated.
About the mentor
Nixon Hanna is a Generator Resident passionate about fieldbuilding and improving the AI safety university group landscape, with a background in surgical robotics and physics. He currently helps run MIT AI Alignment, specifically their AI Safety Fundamentals fellowship, as well as advising various other groups. He is also the Lead Organizer for OASIS 7.0, a workshop for top university group organizers. He has previously had short stints at Redwood Research and EquiStamp. You can read more about his background at nixonhanna.com.