Facilitate the AI Safety, Ethics and Society Course
Our capacity to expand the course to more participants grows with the number of excellent facilitators we are able to recruit.
Great facilitators make the difference between an outstanding experience and an average one for course participants. The role of the facilitator is to guide discussions for a group of course participants and help them to engage productively with the course and each other. By acting as a facilitator, you can increase the number of talented people that are able to contribute to reducing risks from advanced AI.
Why facilitate?
- Support more people to engage with AI safety.
Facilitators make a meaningful impact by guiding informative discussions that deepen participants' knowledge of key concepts and challenges. They help participants to have fruitful debates and better understand a variety of perspectives on these issues. Skillful facilitators also build participants’ confidence in navigating the field of AI safety and identifying how they might contribute. - Develop your own knowledge and expertise.
While facilitators will bring relevant background knowledge, the course is wide-ranging and provides a great opportunity to expose yourself to new ideas. Participants themselves will often bring unexpected views or ask thought-provoking questions that enrich facilitators’ understanding of these topics. - Enhance your leadership and communication skills.
You will build valuable skills by guiding diverse groups of participants through complex topics and ensuring inclusive, productive discussions. These skills are highly transferable to various professional and academic settings. - Connect with talented people.
Facilitating the course provides an opportunity to build lasting relationships with participants and other facilitators. We aim to pair facilitators with participants from diverse backgrounds, fostering a network of connections that can support future interdisciplinary collaboration.
What does facilitating look like?
The overall time commitment for running one group is roughly 5 hours per week over a total of 12 weeks, in addition to a 1 hour training session the week before commencement.
The dates for the next round of the course are:
- AI Fundamentals Week: February 19-23, 2025
- Main Course: February 24 - April 13, 2025
- Projects: April 14 - May 9, 2025
We will provide a facilitator orientation session in the week before the course starts to ensure all facilitators are well-equipped to be successful.
Over the following 8 weeks, you will meet weekly with course participants and facilitate a 2-hour group session via video call. You will also need around 3 hours per week to ensure you are on top of the course content and to handle course admin (e.g. weekly attendance reports) as well as any follow-ups from sessions. We’ll provide examples of how to run each session to make it productive and enjoyable, but you are also welcome to adapt these to the needs and preferences of your group.
In the project phase of the course that begins in week 9, you will run 4 weekly online sessions of 1-2 hours where participants can check in and get feedback on their projects. We will offer support for facilitators throughout the course via weekly check-ins with you and a Slack channel to share questions and ideas with other facilitators. If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach out to us directly on Slack or set up a call with the course manager.
Requirements
- You have significant prior engagement with AI safety, via your work, research, or participation in relevant initiatives (e.g. professional or student groups).
- You are willing to commit at least 5 hours per week during the course
- You are excited about helping newcomers to better understand AI safety
- Ideally, you have experience with facilitating or teaching previously (this is helpful but not an essential requirement)
Compensation
After the course, facilitators will receive a $1,500 (USD) base stipend for one group, with $500 for each additional group they lead. Leading additional groups is optional.
We are not able to make payments to sanctioned countries or those with restrictions on foreign non-profit activities (e.g. China, India). Further details on the terms and conditions of the CAIS Stipend Policy.
Application process
The application process has two stages:
- Complete application form (30 minutes)
- Complete a live interview (30 minutes)
Citation:
Dan Hendrycks. Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics and Society. Taylor & Francis, (2024). ISBN: 9781032798028. URL: www.aisafetybook.com
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