To Land a Job in AI, Try Reading Kant

AI is driving renewed attention to philosophical questions about intelligence and minds. Philosophers are being recruited by major AI labs to help shape AI models and produce influential research. Google DeepMind and Anthropic employ in-house philosophers, and their work is cited widely in subsequent research. Universities are expanding AI ethics education through courses and joint programs in computer science and philosophy. Some academic observers question whether employment by for-profit AI companies could compromise research independence. Concerns also arise about whether philosophical work could become an instrument for hype rather than careful inquiry.

"AI, the same technology that's expected to drive many other people out of work, has given new weight to the kinds of questions they're trained to ask (and sometimes maybe even answer): What is intelligence? What is a mind? You have philosophers from hundreds of years ago who thought about some of the same problems, Ajder says. Now they are becoming material."

"Two of the foremost AI labs have recruited teams of in-house philosophers. There are significantly more philosophers now that's a sound intuition, says ethicist Iason Gabriel, who leads Google DeepMind's team of research scientists specializing in the societal impact of AI. At Anthropic, resident philosopher Amanda Askell has become one of the company's most recognizable faces."

"As philosophers at the labs help to sculpt AI models, producing prominent work cited in hundreds of subsequent research papers, so too is AI shaping the philosophy curricula at eminent universities. Plenty now run AI ethics courses or joint programs in computer science and philosophy."

"Yet in academia, some regard the philosophers working for the labs with a degree of suspicion. If a for-profit AI company signs your paycheck, might that compromise your research? By playing Aristotle to AI Alexander, do you risk your work becoming an instrument for hype-buildi"

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