Connectionists: Multiple positions: Humanising Machine Intelligence@ Australian National University

[Lexing Xie]

The *Australian National University* is launching a major new project
on *Humanising
Machine Intelligence*, uniting computer scientists, philosophers, and
social scientists in the pursuit of a more ethical future for AI and
Machine Learning.

We are currently recruiting 8 *research-intensive academics, 3 of whom will
be based in the Research School of Computer Science:*

- *Level*: Academic Level B  or C
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_(Australia_and_New_Zealand
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_(Australia_and_New_Zealand)>
- *Salary* (AUD): Level B: $98,009-$111,365 plus 17% superannuation,  Level
C: $118,044-$131,402 plus 17% superannuation
- *Duration*: 3 years, with possibility of extension to 5 years following a
successful project review. Consideration will be given to tenure-track or
continuing positions in exceptional circumstances  (e.g. applicants already
holding such a position).
- *HMI project website*: http://hmi.anu.edu.au/
- *How to apply:* *deadline 15 February 2019*
http://jobs.anu.edu.au/cw/en/job/527904/research-fellowfellow
-* Contact:* Sylvie.Thiebaux at anu.edu.au or Lexing.Xie at anu.edu.au

The goal of the HMI project is to forestall the risks posed by inadequate
attention to ethics in the design of MI systems, and help to realise the
tremendous social benefits promised by MI. The project has three
components: (1) Discovery: formulate the design problem by identifying the
social risks and opportunities of widespread reliance on MI. (2)
Foundations: identify and answer the fundamental theoretical questions on
which progress towards ethical MI depends. (3) Design: develop ethical
algorithms and broader MI systems in partnership with industry and
government.

The HMI project chief investigators are: Colin Klein, Seth Lazar and Katie
Steele (Philosophy), Marcus Hutter, Sylvie Thiébaux, Bob Williamson and
Lexing Xie (Computer Science), Jenny Davis (Sociology), Idione Meneghel
(Economics), and Toni Erskine (Political Science).

We are looking for up to eight talented academics to help us humanise
machine intelligence. Our primary criterion is demonstrated research
excellence in a discipline area relevant to the project, and the clear
potential to be research leaders in their disciplines and in the field of
moral AI. An interdisciplinary background is not required, but successful
applicants will be ready and equipped to engage with scholars from other
disciplines and are expected to work actively with scholars from at least
two of the project’s discipline areas.

Three of these new academics will be based in the Research School of
Computer Science. Within this discipline, we strongly encourage researchers
with a wide range of technical backgrounds, including but not limited to
computational social choice and game theory, decision theory, information
theory, logic and automated reasoning, artificial general intelligence,
machine learning, optimisation, planning & scheduling, reasoning about
constraints & preferences, and reinforcement learning.

Successful applicants will help us design the next generation of more
ethical MI systems, in part through publishing internationally influential
research in the leading peer-reviewed venues (as suited to their
discipline). We expect them to become leaders in academia, industry or
government. As well as conducting research at the highest level, they will
help build the HMI community at ANU and globally, through convening a
regular seminar series and international workshops. They will also
contribute, at a reduced intensity, to the education and outreach agendas
of the School, in a manner appropriate to the level of appointment.

------

Lexing Xie
professor, computer science, the australian national university
http://cm.cecs.anu.edu.au
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