About the job

Job summary

The AI Safety Institute

The AI Safety Institute (AISI) is looking for a Research Scientist with expertise in both Behavioural Science and AI research to help lead studies that explore the impact of advanced AI models on humans. These experiments are a core part of our research, which is geared towards assessing the capabilities and risks of advanced AI systems. We wish to study how humans use AI systems, how their capabilities are enhanced by AI systems, and how human users themselves may be psychologically affected by using AI systems. The post-holder will help lead / coordinate research in this area, by designing experiments, training and evaluating AI models (especially large language models [LLMs]), analysing and modelling human data, and summarising results for internal and external dissemination.

The AI Safety Institute is the first state-backed organisation focused on advanced AI safety for the public interest. We launched at the AI Safety Summit because we believe taking responsible action on this extraordinary technology requires a capable and empowered group of technical experts within government. Our staff includes senior alumni from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, start-ups and the UK government, and ML professors from Oxford and Cambridge. We are now calling on the world’s top technical talent to build the institute from the ground up. This is a truly unique opportunity to help shape AI safety at an international level.

We have ambitious goals and need to move fast. Our top priorities are to:

• Develop and conduct evaluations on advanced AI systems. We will characterise safety-relevant capabilities, understand the safety and security of systems, and assess their societal impacts.
• Drive foundational AI safety research. We will launch moonshot research projects and convene world-class external researchers
• Facilitate information exchange. We will establish clear information-sharing channels between the Institute and other national and international actors. These include policymakers, international partners, private companies, academia, civil society, and the broader public.

Job description

We are looking for a Research Scientist with training in behavioural science, and experience of conducting research in machine learning / AI. The ideal candidate will have a vision for how to run studies that assess the impact of AI systems on humans, in order to carry out high-impact research in AI safety.

They will have experience with collecting and analysing human behavioural data, ideally in a setting where humans interact with AI systems. They will have experience with working with advanced AI models, for example in conducting research that studies the impact of prompting or fine-tuning LLMs on relevant outcomes. They will use their skills and experience to conduct research that measures the positive and negative impacts of AI systems on individuals and groups.

These could be psychological impacts, related to mental health (e.g. does interacting with models change mood or levels of anxiety) as well as epistemic health (are people more likely to believe fake news or subscribe to conspiracy theories after interacting with the models). We are also very interested in how advanced AI systems may enhance human capabilities, especially in domains where this uplift may have dangerous consequences (e.g. biosecurity or cybersecurity).

Person specification

The ideal candidate will have excellent research skills, experience with designing human behavioural experiments and collecting and analysing human data, and AI research skills, including working with advanced AI models (such as LLMs).

Example duties on any given day could include:

• Designing a new human-AI study
• Providing guidance to other team members responsible for building experimental UI
• Creating an analysis pipeline for large-scale human data
• Monitoring study progress via reports from other team members
• Prompting or fine-tuning an advanced AI system to make it safer or more capable
• Writing research papers or delivering talks that describe research findings

The ideal candidate will have skills and experience that allow them to:

• Lead on design of high-quality research that evaluates advanced AI systems with a focus on safety
• Design human-AI interaction studies rigorously, ethically, safely, with both data quality and participant experience / wellbeing in mind
• Identify improvements to research workflows and troubleshoot problems as they arise
• Design analytic pipelines that address key research questions, and provide technical oversight of their implementation
• Serve as a mentor or line manager to more junior colleagues
• Liaise with the team lead and wider AISI to respond to goals and to deliver impactful research

Essential requirements for the role this include:

• Significant experience of leading experiments that involve human data collection, for example from graduate-level study in cognitive or social sciences, or (extensive) equivalent experience in an industry setting
• Good technical and coding skills
• Experience of mentoring others in a research setting
• A significant track record of publishing work, disseminating findings, or other pathways to impact
• Experience with conducting research that involves online collection of human behavioural data (e.g. Prolific Academic, Amazon Mechanical Turk, or an equivalent platform)
• An understanding of the ethical and data protection issues associated with human experimentation (e.g. Research Ethics, GDPR)
• Strong project management skills and demonstrable experience of teamwork, including building rapport with people from diverse backgrounds

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £85,000, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £11,474 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Please apply with a copy of your CV and a personal statement (500 word limit) setting out your answers to the questions below:

• Why are you interested in joining the AISI right now?
• What are the most important technical projects UK government needs to undertake within the next few months to advance AI Safety?
• What do you want to be doing to drive those projects forward?
• Is there anything else about your skills, experience or background you’d like us to be aware of?

Sift and interview process

Applications will be sifted on the CV and personal statement.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement.

Candidates should expect to go through some or all of the following stages once an application has been submitted:-

Stage 1: Coding Test - To be completed within 72 hours 
Stage 2: Sifting if successful at coding test 
Stage 3: Initial Interview
Stage 4: Research interview 1
Stage 5: Research interview 2 
Stage 6: Senior Civil Servant interview 

Sift and interview dates

Expected Timeline subject to change

Sift dates: w/c 05/02/2024

Interview dates: w/c 12/02/2024

Interview Location: MS Teams.

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

If you have any questions about the role or your application, then please send an email to aisi-talentrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

We fully support adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

We do not have an exhaustive list of adjustments that we support but just some examples include additional time to complete your application form, behaviour questions up to 72 hours prior to interview and having extra time at interview.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Nationality Requirements

If you do not meet the standard nationality requirements as detailed below, then we would still encourage you to submit an application.  We may be able to explore other options such as seconding you in from either your current employer or a third party organisation.

Not meeting the nationality rules set out below should not be seen as an automatic barrier to applying for this role.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.