About
How can we ensure that human civilization survives and thrives?
Convergence exists to develop and promote insights on how to create a thriving future for humanity. The development of advanced technologies poses both great opportunities and perils for humanity, as exemplified by nuclear technology, bioengineering, and Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is progressing at breakneck speeds. Plausibly, human-level AI will be here within 10 years. Shortly after this, we’ll be in the beyond-human regime. Hence, we need to know: (1) What will the emergence of advanced AI look like, (2) how will this impact human society, (3) what constitutes wise decision making regarding advanced AI, and (4) how can we help society adopt better decision making?
Convergence seeks to build a world-class research institution focused purely on making progress on these questions. Our research is deeply interdisciplinary in nature and draws upon insights and methods from philosophy, computer science, mathematics, sociology, cognitive science, psychology, and AI. See our Get Involved page for our current job opportunities.
Team
David Kristoffersson
David is CEO and co-founder of Convergence. He has a background as R&D Project Manager at Ericsson where he led a project of 30 experienced software engineers. He has a further background as a Software Engineer and has a BS in Computer Engineering. He has worked with the Future of Humanity Institute, has explored research projects in ML and AI strategy with FHI researchers, and co-organized the first AI Safety Camp.
Justin Shovelain
Justin is Chief Strategist and co-founder of Convergence. He is an AI safety advisor to Lionheart Ventures. He has worked with existential risk research since 2009, including working with MIRI, CFAR, EA Global, and Founders Fund. He has done work in EA strategy, fundraising, networking, teaching, cognitive enhancement, and AI safety research. He has an MS degree in computer science and BS degrees in computer science, mathematics, and physics.
Harry Day
Harry is COO of Convergence. He has over a decade of experience in leading finance and operations for fast-growing international organizations. He holds a first class MEng degree in Electronics, a PGDip with distinction in Cybernetics, and completed postgraduate research in computational neuroscience.
Dr. Elliot Mckernon
Elliot is a writer at Convergence. He has a PhD in mathematics from he University of Manchester, where he studied modular representation theory and earned several awards for contribution to society. He has a first class Master’s in Natural Sciences from the UEA. Since 2020, he’s worked as a technical and popsci writer, covering machine learning, astronomy, particle physics, and more.
Dr. Justin Bullock
Justin is a Senior Researcher at Convergence, leading the AI Clarity project. He is an Associate Professor Affiliate of Governance at the University of Washington and a world-renowned scholar in public policy, governance, AI, and more. From 2014-2021, Justin was a professor at Texas A&M University in the Bush School of Government and Public Servce, where he was tenured in 2020 and awarded numerous accolades for his teaching.
Dr. Christopher DiCarlo
Christopher is a Senior Researcher at Convergence, leading the Acting on AI project. He teaches in the Department of Biology at the University of Toronto and The Life Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University and is a past Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard University. He is the Ethics Chair for the Canadian Mental Health Association, a lifetime member of Humanist Canada, and an Expert Advisor for the Centre for Inquiry Canada. Christopher has published three books, including an international best-seller.
Board
Dr. Andrew X Stewart
Andrew has a background in machine learning, computational neuroscience, policy and AI. He has worked in the neural and genetic origin of schizophrenia and published work on classifying human neuroimaging data. His Ph.D was at University of Edinburgh in Neuroinformatics and he went on to work writing modelling and stats software with the Brain Research Imaging Centre, and is a Center for Applied Rationality bootcamp alumnus.
Kristian Rönn
Kristian is the founder of several NGOs and companies. Between 2013 and 2014 he worked as a project manager at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. He has a background in mathematics, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence. He has been heavily involved in the Effective Altruism Movement since 2010 by working for several organisations in the space on issues ranging for existential risk to charity evaluations.
Justin Shovelain
Justin is Chief Strategist and co-founder of Convergence.
Advisors
Nevin Freeman
Nevin is an entrepreneur who has co-founded three companies. His mission in life is to solve the coordination problems that are stopping humanity from achieving its potential, and he’s particularly concerned about averting the long-term risks posed by the development of artificial intelligence. Nevin oversees strategy, legal, and team coordination at Reserve.
Ben Harack
Ben is an aspiring polymath working on problems that seem important and solvable in the fields of existential risk and global governance. He is co-founder of the Vision of Earth project, the primary author of Ruling Ourselves, and one of the engineers behind the Human Diagnosis Project. He holds a master’s degree in physics and bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, physics, and psychology.
Ozzie Gooen
Ozzie is a Research Scholar at the Future of Humanity Institute. He has done engineering work at Yahoo!, DEKA Research and Development, and Grand Rounds. He cofounded Bow Labs Inc, a company that created multiple profitable applications. He has also worked at 80,000 Hours and cofounded .impact, an online collective that has helped organize hundreds of international volunteers to make projects on the topic of Effective Altruism.
Tee Barnett
Tee is a personal strategist and executive coach. In the past, he co-founded and co-led Rethink Charity, and is currently a director of the board there.