Google DeepMind has a fresh new hire, and it’s not an AI engineer or researcher. Instead, the premier AI lab has hired a philosopher who will be working on areas like machine consciousness, human-AI relationships, and AGI readiness.
Who is the philosopher hired by Google DeepMind?
Google DeepMind has hired Henry Shevlin for the position of ‘philosopher’. Shevlin currently serves as the Associate Director (Education) at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.
In his post on X (formerly Twitter), announcing his new role, Shevlin said he will be joining DeepMind in May.
“Big personal news: I’ve been recruited by Google DeepMind for a new Philosopher position (actual title), focusing on machine consciousness, human-AI relationships, and AGI readiness, starting in May. I’ll continue my research & teaching at Cambridge part-time. Absolutely stoked!” wrote Shevlin in a post on X.
In a LinkedIn post, he said that he will be continuing his work at the University of Cambridge in a ‘part-time capacity’.
“It’s a rare privilege to work on questions I’ve spent my career thinking about, now with the resources and urgency that come with being inside one of the world’s leading AI labs. Very grateful to everyone who’s supported me along the way, and excited for what’s ahead!” Shevlin wrote.
Notably, this is not the first time that an AI company has hired a philosopher. Late last year, Anthropic had also revealed that it had hired Amanda Askell, a PhD philosopher and AI researcher, to work as an in-house philosopher on areas like AI alignment and fine-tuning.
Who is Henry Shevlin?
As per his LinkedIn, Shevlin has expertise across topics like cognitive science, AI ethics, animal minds, and consciousness. He also says he has published multiple papers in prestigious journals like the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Originally from rural England, Shevlin began his academic career at the age of 18 at the University of Oxford, where he earned a BA in Classics and a BPhil in Philosophy. He subsequently relocated to the United States to complete his PhD in philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center between 2010 and 2016. During his time in New York, he also served as a lecturer at Baruch College. He currently lives in Cambridge with his wife, Wanda, and their two children.
Beyond his formal academic work, Shevlin’s website notes that he spends ‘excessive time on AI Twitter’. He also has interests in science fiction, animals, evolution, probability, game theory, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, politics, storytelling, law, geology, space, art, music, etymology, history, and video gaming.
