The Machine Intelligence Research Institute is accepting applicants to two summer programs: a three-week AI robustness and reliability colloquium series (co-run with the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute), and a two-week fellows program focused on helping new researchers contribute to MIRI’s technical agenda (co-run with the Center for Applied Rationality).

The Colloquium Series on Robust and Beneficial AI (CSRBAI), running from May 27 to June 17, is a new gathering of top researchers in academia and industry to tackle the kinds of technical questions featured in the Future of Life Institute’s long-term AI research priorities report and project grants, including transparency, error-tolerance, and preference specification in software systems.

The goal of the event is to spark new conversations and collaborations between safety-conscious AI scientists with a variety of backgrounds and research interests. Attendees will be invited to give and attend talks at MIRI’s Berkeley, California offices during Wednesday/Thursday/Friday colloquia, to participate in hands-on Saturday/Sunday workshops, and to drop by for open discussion days:

Scheduled speakers include Stuart Russell (May 27), UC Berkeley Professor of Computer Science and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Tom Dietterich (May 27), AAAI President and OSU Director of Intelligent Systems, and Bart Selman (June 3), Cornell Professor of Computer Science.

Apply here to attend any portion of the event, as well as to propose a talk or discussion topic:

Application Form

The 2016 MIRI Summer Fellows program, running from June 19 to July 3, doubles as a workshop for developing new problem-solving skills and mathematical intuitions, and a crash course on MIRI’s active research projects.

This is a smaller and more focused version of the Summer Fellows program we ran last year, which resulted in multiple new hires for us. As such, the program also functions as a high-intensity research retreat where MIRI staff and potential collaborators can get to know each other and work together on important open problems in AI. Apply here to attend the program:

Application Form

Both programs are free of charge, including free room and board for all MIRI Summer Fellows program participants, free lunches and dinners for CSRBAI participants, and additional partial accommodations and travel assistance for select attendees. For additional information, see the CSRBAI event page and the MIRI Summer Fellows event page.