Through several initiatives, the Cosmos Institute will ensure AI aligns with human flourishing
The Cosmos Institute, a multidisciplinary initiative at the intersection of philosophy and AI, promotes a balanced approach to AI development through four key programs: the HAI Lab at Oxford, a fellowship program, a grants program, and educational offerings.
A multidisciplinary group working in the intersection between philosophy and AI has joined forces to create the Cosmos Institute to promote an approach to AI that departs from existential pessimism (the AI as an existential threat view) and unbridled optimism. The Cosmos Institute promotes replacing these approaches with a new vision based on the advancement of reason, decentralization, and human autonomy that ensures that AI becomes a tool to expand human potential and excellence, rather than diminishing it.
At the core of the Cosmos Institute is the creation of a "philosophy-to-code" pipeline inspired by the "philosophy-to-law" pipeline of the United States' founding fathers, by which they translated the abstract principles of a free society into an influential legal framework. Similarly, the "philosophy-to-code" pipeline aims to embed the driving concepts of reason, decentralization, and human autonomy into the AI systems of the future. To do this, the Cosmos Institute has announced four key initiatives:
- The Human-Centered AI Lab (HAI Lab) at the University of Oxford, led by Professor Philipp Koralus.
- The Cosmos Fellowship program will support the academic growth of individuals capable of mastering AI and philosophical expertise.
- Cosmos Ventures: a grants program to advance innovative projects at the intersection of AI and human flourishing.
- Educational offerings, including seminars, reading groups, and public debates about the relationship between technology and humanity's highest aims.
The Cosmos Institute is currently inviting engagement with its programs and activities by joining its Substack; supporting its Oxford AI x Philosophy graduate seminar; applying to its current programs: the inaugural essay contest, Cosmos Ventures, and Cosmos Fellows; donating; and applying to become part of the institute.
