AI Safety
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize nearly every aspect of our lives, from healthcare and education to transportation and beyond. As AI systems become more advanced and widely adopted, it is crucial that we prioritize their safety and ensure they remain beneficial to humanity. This is the core mission of AI safety.
What is AI Safety?
AI safety is a field of research and practice dedicated to ensuring that AI systems are developed and deployed in a manner that is safe, reliable, transparent, and aligned with human values. It involves addressing a wide range of challenges, including:
Robustness and reliability: Ensuring that AI systems perform as intended, even in unexpected situations or when faced with adversarial inputs.
Transparency and interpretability: Enabling humans to understand how AI systems make decisions and arrive at their outputs.
Value alignment: Designing AI systems that behave in ways that are consistent with human values, ethics, and societal norms.
Control and oversight: Maintaining appropriate human control over AI systems and ensuring that humans can intervene or halt their operation if necessary.
Why AI Safety Matters
As AI capabilities advance at a rapid pace, the potential impacts on society grow increasingly significant. Without proper safeguards and considerations for safety, AI systems could pose risks such as:
Unintended consequences due to misaligned objectives or unexpected behaviors
Loss of human control over critical decisions and processes
Misuse or exploitation of AI technologies for harmful purposes
By prioritizing AI safety, we can work to mitigate these risks and ensure that the transformative potential of AI is realized in a way that benefits all of humanity.
Our Projects
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ERA Fellowship
The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship provides aspiring AI safety & Governance researchers with an in-person, paid, 8-week summer research fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Applications for Summer 2024 have now closed.
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Cambridge AI Safety Hub
CAISH is a network of students and professionals in Cambridge working on AI safety. CAISH conducts technical and policy research, runs educational and research programs, and creates a vibrant community of people with shared interests.