Encultured is now doing business as
and
Founders
Andrew is deeply motivated to steer AI technology in a direction that is positive and healthy for humans and humanity. In the long term, Andrew feels that AI should primarily be used to care for and nurture humans, rather than controlling or overtaking human society, and he sees healthcare as the best industry sector for setting that precedent. Immediately prior to Encultured, Andrew spent 5 years working as a full-time research scientist at UC Berkeley, within the Center for Human-Compatible AI (CHAI), where he retains a part-time appointment. In 2017, Andrew also co-founded the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to improving humanity’s long-term prospects for survival and flourishing, where he volunteered as Executive Director for three years, and now volunteers as President. Andrew also established the Survival and Flourishing Fund and Survival and Flourishing Projects with the support of philanthropist and Encultured co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and co-developed the S-process for philanthropic grant-making.
In 2013, Andrew earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at UC Berkeley studying applications of algebraic geometry to machine learning models. During that time, he cofounded the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) and the Summer Program on Applied Rationality and Cognition (SPARC). He was offered university faculty and research positions in mathematics, mathematical biosciences, and philosophy, worked as an algorithmic stock trader at Jane Street Capital’s New York City office (2014-2015), and as a Research Fellow at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (2015-2017).
Most recently, Andrew had the good sense to be super-impressed by Nick’s amazing engineering skills and realized they should found a company together :)
Nick wants to ensure that powerful AI is developed for the benefit of humanity, and believes that to do this we need a good understanding not only of artificial intelligence but also of human intelligence, including deep questions about human minds and culture spanning anthropology, cognitive linguistics, and neuroscience. Prior to Encultured, Nick spent 5 years at Vicarious AI working on approaches to artificial general intelligence (AGI) grounded in real-world robotics. In 2015, Nick earned his PhD at UC Berkeley under Professor Stuart Russell applying reinforcement learning and Bayesian analysis to the metalevel control problem: how can an agent learn to control its own computations.
Nick first began thinking deeply about the impact of AI on humanity upon reading Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Creating Friendly AI in 2001, subsequently interning at MIRI in 2006 and attending the Singularity Summit in 2007. Originally hailing from New Zealand, Nick is still getting used to walking upside down.
Jaan Tallinn is a founding engineer of Skype and Kazaa. He is a co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (cser.org), the Future of Life Institute (futureoflife.org), and philanthropically supports other organisations tackling existential and catastropic risk. Jaan serves on the AI Advisory Body at the United Nations, on the Board of the Center for AI Safety (safe.ai), and the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (thebulletin.org). He has previously served on the High-Level Expert Group on AI at the European Commission, as well as on the Estonian President’s Academic Advisory Board. He is also an active angel investor (metaplanet.com), a partner at Ambient Sound Investments (asi.ee), and a former investor director of the AI company DeepMind (deepmind.google).