I did what I think is the largest piece of research on current and aspiring AI safety folk in Australia & New Zealand. I wanted to understand their career barriers so that I could then optimize my organization's tactics to remove them.
Caveats
- I am not a trained social scientist nor a statistician. There will be errors.
- I’ve budgeted a few hours to write this up. So this is mostly about me posting the results for others to use. I hope they’re useful.
The process
- I conducted 35 long form interviews with local Technical and Governance folk (about an hour each).
- From this qualitative data I identified a long list of barriers to impact.
- I then clustered the long list of barriers into 15 high level ones.
- I also found two reasonably common symptoms of mental-ill health. Not nice TBH.
- I used this list of 17 barriers / symptoms of mental-ill health in a survey. My goal was to measure how intense or common each barrier to impact was using Likert scales.
The survey scales
- Likert scale for Barriers
- Not at all (0)
- Slightly (1)
- Somewhat (2)
- Moderately (3)
- Very (4)
- Extremely (5)
- Likert scale for mental health related questions
- Never (0)
- Rarely (1)
- Sometimes (2)
- Often (3)
- Always (4)
Demo breakdown of survey responders
By career stage
| I am not currently working in an AI Safety role, but I aspire to in the future | 20 |
| I am currently working in an AI Safety role | 17 |
Their ideal or current career stream
| Ideal or current career path | Count |
| Technical work (e.g. research) | 21 |
| Governance and Policy | 13 |
| Movement Building | 3 |
Results
Barriers
Overall barriers to impact (high to low)
| Barrier | Intensity |
| How limited have you been by a lack of *local*, well-paying AI Safety jobs? | 3.11 |
| How much has a lack of mentorship hindered your progress in AI Safety? | 3.03 |
| How confused are you about the amount of upskilling you'd need to be successful in your most desired AI Safety job? | 2.72 |
| How difficult have you found creating and following a career plan (including upskilling) for AI Safety? | 2.56 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of high-quality *local* training programs for AI Safety careers? | 2.49 |
| How challenging have you found navigating the funding ecosystem in AI Safety (this could include grants, PhD programs, etc.)? | 2.47 |
| How unclear are you about where your skills could be best applied in AI Safety? | 2.36 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of strong *local* (i.e. in-person) networks for AI Safety careers? | 2.33 |
| How much have financial limitations hindered your pursuit of an AI Safety career (e.g., taking unpaid time off for upskilling)? | 2.24 |
| How confused are you about the types of paid jobs available in AI Safety? | 2.11 |
| How much has a lack of quality feedback on your AI Safety work hindered your progress? | 2.08 |
| How much has a lack of collaborators for AI Safety projects hindered your progress? | 2.06 |
| How difficult is it for you to stay up-to-date on relevant AI Safety opportunities (jobs, funding, networking, training)? | 1.97 |
| How difficult have you found accessing career advice specific to AI Safety? | 1.75 |
| To what extent have you experienced a desire to contribute to the *local* AI Safety movement, but been confused about how you can contribute (e.g. through volunteering)? | 1.03 |
Governance & Policy career stream: barriers to impact (high to low)
| Barrier (Governance) | Intensity (out of 5) |
| How limited have you been by a lack of *local*, well-paying AI Safety jobs? | 3.46 |
| How confused are you about the amount of upskilling you'd need to be successful in your most desired AI Safety job? | 3.08 |
| How much have financial limitations hindered your pursuit of an AI Safety career (e.g., taking unpaid time off for upskilling)? | 2.92 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of high-quality *local* training programs for AI Safety careers? | 2.77 |
| How challenging have you found navigating the funding ecosystem in AI Safety (this could include grants, PhD programs, etc.)? | 2.69 |
| How difficult have you found creating and following a career plan (including upskilling) for AI Safety? | 2.69 |
| How much has a lack of mentorship hindered your progress in AI Safety? | 2.62 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of strong *local* (i.e. in-person) networks for AI Safety careers? | 2.54 |
| How unclear are you about where your skills could be best applied in AI Safety? | 2.46 |
| How confused are you about the types of paid jobs available in AI Safety? | 2.31 |
| How difficult is it for you to stay up-to-date on relevant AI Safety opportunities (jobs, funding, networking, training)? | 1.85 |
| How difficult have you found accessing career advice specific to AI Safety? | 1.77 |
| How much has a lack of collaborators for AI Safety projects hindered your progress? | 1.69 |
| To what extent have you experienced a desire to contribute to the *local* AI Safety movement, but been confused about how you can contribute (e.g. through volunteering)? | 1.38 |
| How much has a lack of quality feedback on your AI Safety work hindered your progress? | 1.23 |
Technical career stream: barriers to impact (high to low)
| Barrier Technical | Intensity |
| How much has a lack of mentorship hindered your progress in AI Safety? | 3.3 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of *local*, well-paying AI Safety jobs? | 2.81 |
| How confused are you about the amount of upskilling you'd need to be successful in your most desired AI Safety job? | 2.55 |
| How much has a lack of quality feedback on your AI Safety work hindered your progress? | 2.5 |
| How difficult have you found creating and following a career plan (including upskilling) for AI Safety? | 2.5 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of high-quality *local* training programs for AI Safety careers? | 2.33 |
| How challenging have you found navigating the funding ecosystem in AI Safety (this could include grants, PhD programs, etc.)? | 2.3 |
| How unclear are you about where your skills could be best applied in AI Safety? | 2.25 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of strong *local* (i.e. in-person) networks for AI Safety careers? | 2.15 |
| How much has a lack of collaborators for AI Safety projects hindered your progress? | 2.1 |
| How confused are you about the types of paid jobs available in AI Safety? | 2 |
| How much have financial limitations hindered your pursuit of an AI Safety career (e.g., taking unpaid time off for upskilling)? | 1.90 |
| How difficult is it for you to stay up-to-date on relevant AI Safety opportunities (jobs, funding, networking, training)? | 1.8 |
| How difficult have you found accessing career advice specific to AI Safety? | 1.65 |
| To what extent have you experienced a desire to contribute to the *local* AI Safety movement, but been confused about how you can contribute (e.g. through volunteering)? | 0.75 |
Governance vs Technical (differences in barriers to impact)
| Barrier | Governance | Technical | Absolute difference | Proportional difference |
| How much has a lack of quality feedback on your AI Safety work hindered your progress? | 1.23 | 2.50 | 1.27 | 0.68 |
| To what extent have you experienced a desire to contribute to the *local* AI Safety movement, but been confused about how you can contribute (e.g. through volunteering)? | 1.38 | 0.75 | 0.63 | 0.59 |
| How much have financial limitations hindered your pursuit of an AI Safety career (e.g., taking unpaid time off for upskilling)? | 2.92 | 1.90 | 1.02 | 0.42 |
| How much has a lack of mentorship hindered your progress in AI Safety? | 2.62 | 3.30 | 0.68 | 0.23 |
| How much has a lack of collaborators for AI Safety projects hindered your progress? | 1.69 | 2.10 | 0.41 | 0.22 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of *local*, well-paying AI Safety jobs? | 3.46 | 2.81 | 0.65 | 0.21 |
| How confused are you about the amount of upskilling you'd need to be successful in your most desired AI Safety job? | 3.08 | 2.55 | 0.53 | 0.19 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of high-quality *local* training programs for AI Safety careers? | 2.77 | 2.33 | 0.44 | 0.17 |
| How limited have you been by a lack of strong *local* (i.e. in-person) networks for AI Safety careers? | 2.54 | 2.15 | 0.39 | 0.17 |
| How challenging have you found navigating the funding ecosystem in AI Safety (this could include grants, PhD programs, etc.)? | 2.69 | 2.30 | 0.39 | 0.16 |
| How confused are you about the types of paid jobs available in AI Safety? | 2.31 | 2.00 | 0.31 | 0.14 |
| How unclear are you about where your skills could be best applied in AI Safety? | 2.46 | 2.25 | 0.21 | 0.09 |
| How difficult have you found creating and following a career plan (including upskilling) for AI Safety? | 2.69 | 2.50 | 0.19 | 0.07 |
| How difficult have you found accessing career advice specific to AI Safety? | 1.77 | 1.65 | 0.12 | 0.07 |
| How difficult is it for you to stay up-to-date on relevant AI Safety opportunities (jobs, funding, networking, training)? | 1.85 | 1.80 | 0.05 | 0.03 |
Mental ill-health
How often have you felt lonely or disconnected while pursuing an AI Safety career?
Overall
| Total | % | |
| Often (3) | 12 | 33.33% |
| Sometimes (2) | 12 | 33.33% |
| Rarely (1) | 7 | 19.44% |
| Never (0) | 3 | 8.33% |
| Always (4) | 2 | 5.56% |
By career stream
| Governance and Policy | % | Movement Building | % | Technical work (e.g. research) | % | |
| Always (4) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 9.52% |
| Never (0) | 1 | 7.69% | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 4.76% |
| Often (3) | 5 | 38.46% | 2 | 66.67% | 5 | 23.81% |
| Rarely (1) | 3 | 23.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 19.05% |
| Sometimes (2) | 4 | 30.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 8 | 38.10% |
How often have you experienced negative emotions (low confidence, self-doubt, fear of failure) while pursuing an AI Safety career?
Overall
| Grand Total | % | |
| Often (3) | 13 | 36.11% |
| Sometimes (2) | 12 | 33.33% |
| Always (4) | 5 | 13.89% |
| Rarely (1) | 5 | 13.89% |
| Never (0) | 1 | 2.78% |
By career stream
| Governance and Policy | % | Movement Building | % | Technical work (e.g. research) | % | |
| Always (4) | 2 | 15.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 14.29% |
| Often (3) | 4 | 30.77% | 2 | 66.67% | 7 | 33.33% |
| Sometimes (2) | 5 | 38.46% | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 33.33% |
| Rarely (1) | 1 | 7.69% | 1 | 33.33% | 3 | 14.29% |
| Never (0) | 1 | 7.69% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
Hi quila! I'll be honest - many of the interviews had a tinge of sadness to them. It has motivated me to explore opening co-working spaces in Sydney and Melbourne. Partly because I see a strong theory of change, but also because I think it will help improve the wellbeing of aspiring AI folk (there is ofc overlap between these two things!).
Are you from ANZ?