About Us
Opportunities
Senior Science Writer
The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence is seeking a senior science writer to clearly explain technical points of cognitive science and artificial intelligence, targeting popular, educated, and academic audiences.
You are an excellent explainer, an experienced writer, and capable of rapidly grasping complex concepts and intricate arguments. You can readily understand and visualize points of mathematics that are simple, but which many find counterintuitive (e.g. Bayes's Theorem). You can explain these points with vivid illustrations and concrete examples. You can speak the language of academia, or write to random web browsers.
We are an expanding 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute working in the field of theoretical artificial intelligence. You will talk to the good explainers among our in-house researchers, and quickly absorb the relevant, explainable portions of their knowledge. You will write based on that knowledge for popular audiences, and also compose deeper explanations for more knowledgeable readers. To grasp the required knowledge, and to explain it properly, may require you to learn the basics (not the depths) of scientific fields such as evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, or Bayesian decision theory. We don't expect you to start out familiar with all the background fields, but we do expect you to be a fast learner.
For an example of the types of writing needed, see the informal essay “A Technical Explanation of Technical Explanation” or the academically targeted book chapter “Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk”. Both of these essays were done by our senior researcher, a good explainer but slow writer.
We need you to take as much strain as possible off our researchers – write material that requires portions of their knowledge, while placing not too much demand on their time. You might talk in person with a researcher for a full day; exchange additional telephone calls afterward, as additional issues come up; and send them drafts for review and editing. Material that would otherwise have to be written by a researcher may include: explanatory essays; lectures to popular audiences; calls for proposals in forthcoming grants programs; calls for papers in forthcoming conferences; progress reports for donors; orientation material for new employees; technical material on our website.
Someone who can do all that commands a high price, which we are able to pay.
Please submit samples of your prior work – inexperienced writers need not apply. We will consider applicants whose previous job title was not "Writer" but whose writing portfolio demonstrates strong ability to explain tricky scientific and mathematical concepts.
We need a proven writer who can start soon. Six-month trial period at full salary – we check you out, you check us out, and if everyone likes what they see, welcome home for the long term.
Sometime in the next decades, humanity will finally create a powerful artificial intelligence. The Singularity Institute exists to handle the implied challenge, both the opportunity and the risk. Your job will be to explain it. We don't envy you that task – but artificial intelligence is one of the most important issues humanity has to face in the coming decades, and it deserves humanity's best science writers.
How to Apply:
Send resume and letter to Tyler Emerson, Executive Director, at emerson@singinst.org.