You want to help
with AI safety.We’ll point the way.

Many people want to reduce risks from AI, but don’t know where to start. We can help.AI Safety Quest offers free 1-1 navigation calls to help you find your path into AI safety. We listen, then point you to the courses, communities, and opportunities that fit you.

You can also learn more about us or volunteer with us.

Navigation Calls

We advise people who want to reduce catastrophic risk around the development of AI. In our navigation calls, we get to know about your interests, background and the unique challenges you are facing. Based on that information, we direct you to the most relevant resources and communities in the ecosystem.We target these calls at people who:

  • Believe AI may pose a catastrophic risk, by which we mean it leads to harm on a large scale including widespread damage, loss of life, and suffering.

  • Have a basic understanding of what is meant by AI safety and AI Alignment

  • Are planning on volunteering or working in the field

Our calls are open to people at every career stage. We've supported students contemplating what to do for a master's or PhD, early career professionals looking for entry-level roles, mid- and late-career professionals wanting to transition, and people looking to volunteer and contribute to AI safety alongside other commitments.Before booking a call, make sure to familiarize yourself with the problems of superintelligent AI first by reading this introduction from Wait But Why and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute's overview of the problem. We also recommend you subscribe to the AI Safety Events and Training newsletter to stay up-to-date on training opportunities and fellowships, and to Transformer News for a weekly update of what is going on in AI safety and transformative AI.After you have done this, you are in good shape to book a call, but we can provide the most value to advisees who have already engaged more deeply with the problem by doing one of the following:

Once you have looked through the above, AISafety.com has a comprehensive overview of all resources to get into AI safety, including upcoming events, fellowships, funding opportunities and local communities. If you are interested in working in AI safety, check out 80,000 hours' career reviews of relevant careers and have a look at this workshop on finding a high-impact career.

Join the AI Safety Quest Team

AI Safety Quest is a fully volunteer-based organization, and we are always looking for more people to help with our ambitious mission of providing scalable onboarding and advising to promote AI safety.AI safety requires collaboration across diverse perspectives and backgrounds, and we welcome those who share our concern for AI as catastrophic risk, whether you have a technical background or not. We are currently looking for:

  • Coaching: We are always looking for more navigators so we can speak to more people. This role is most suitable for those who already have AI Safety context and feel comfortable advising others on entering the field. No specific domain-expertise is required. In this role, you will have between 2 to 6 30-45 minute calls a week with advisees. We will provide training on how to take these calls and resources that you can share with advisees.

  • Community Management: Make our Discord server a friendly and informative place to be, organize events, and share opportunities to create an online hub for AI safety. You will have a lot of autonomy in how to execute this.

  • Public Outreach: Help us reach more people to raise awareness about the risks of AI and about our programs and resources. This can take the form of social media management (scheduling posts spotlighting resources, upcoming fellowships, or sharing case studies of our alumni; responding to comments or questions on our social media; cross-posting opportunities from other organizations), but if you'd rather do outreach in a different way, such as talks, partnerships or a specific campaign, bring the idea and you can run with it.

  • Increasing Our Impact: You will own our feedback loop and make us improve our offering. For example, you might analyze our post-call survey responses, figure out where advisees get stuck or drop off, and present concrete improvements to the team. No background in data analysis needed.

  • Writing and Research: Help us write blog posts and new resources for others to find their way into AI safety. You do not need to have any AI safety knowledge to do this, as long as you are willing to do research. Our team can provide you with feedback and a platform to share your work.

If volunteer with Writing and Research appeals to you, here are some topics we are interested in covering. You can also bring your own ideas:

  • Operations Projects: What are good projects that people can do to prove their skills in operations?

  • Entrepreneurship: When should you start a new organization versus starting a project versus joining an existing organization?

  • Volunteering: What are good opportunities for people to volunteer in AI Safety, outside of advocacy?

  • Comparing Fellowships and Courses: Demystify all the AI Safety courses and fellowships by writing an article to compare them and explain to people what would be suitable in their position

  • Comparing Potential Roles: Write an article comparing various kinds of open roles in AI Safety to help people narrow down where to apply.

  • Demystify AI Safety Org Hiring Culture: Like many fields, AI Safety has its own culture, which extends to hiring, such as a fondness of test tasks. Write an article explaining how recruitment in AI safety is different from other fields that people might be entering from.

If you are interested in helping out with any of these, please email us at [email protected] with a brief description of your background and experience, what you would like to do and why, and a brief outline of what you would like to do in the role, if you already have some ideas.

About us

We are a team of volunteers who believe we need many more people working on reducing the risk around AI. We gathered around Alignment Ecosystem Development and started Quest in early 2023. Since then, we have run mentorship for emerging AI safety talent, organised Quest Parties to help people learn about AI safety together, and taken over 400 navigation calls.Please feel free to email us at hello at aisafety dot quest.

Current Team Members

  • Chris: works part-time in IT and cybersecurity. He is interested in AI governance, making vegetarian Indian dals, and inline skating.

  • Mick: Operations manager with experience in AI safety, theatre and software development. He likes to social dance, play music with people, and make the Quest systems run smoother.

  • Ricky: A manager for a team of developer advocates. When he’s not fiddling with Quest logo, you can find him on a rugby pitch or tending his balcony garden.

AI Safety Quest is the result of work of many alumni volunteers, some of whom now work in AI safety communications, governance, operations, and technical research, and have founded their own organizations in AI safety.