Scientist, Aural & Language Intelligence, IAIC

About the Role

The Ethical and Trustworthy AI Group at CFAR is committed to developing the scientific foundations of AI systems that uphold fairness, transparency, safety, and alignment with human values across diverse cultures and contexts. This position seeks a Research Scientist with an expertise in computer science and artificial intelligence to conduct pioneering research on advanced agentic AI systems, focusing on social, cultural, and safety considerations.

Core Research Focus Areas

• Value Alignment of Foundation Models: Investigating preference learning, alignment techniques, and evaluating models across various modalities, cultures, and contexts.
• Interpretability and Explainability: Exploring mechanistic interpretability, analyzing emergent behaviors, and enhancing transparency in state-of-the-art language models and agentic AI systems.
• Human-Centered AI and Interaction: Studying cognitive and behavioral effects arising from human-AI collaboration, socially aware communication, and multi-agent cooperation.
• Societal Impact and AI Governance: Assessing AI's influence on societal values, institutional trust, and large-scale decision-making processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct original cutting-edge research and contribute knowledge by publishing in prestigious conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, CHI, and AAAI.
• Design and execute experiments with foundation models, agentic AI systems, data benchmarks, and novel evaluation techniques.
• Collaborate with experts in machine learning, natural language processing, human-computer interaction, social sciences, and ethics to tackle interdisciplinary research challenges.
• Engage with industry and governmental bodies to convert research insights into practical tools and inform policy development.
• Provide mentorship to junior researchers and assist in preparing research proposals and grant applications when appropriate.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Doctorate degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, or a related technical discipline.
• Demonstrated track record of published research in leading venues focused on AI, machine learning, NLP, or HCI.
• Practical experience working with large language models, agentic AI systems, and techniques for their adaptation and optimization.
• Competence in designing experiments and evaluation frameworks for sophisticated AI systems, alongside a strong interest in AI’s effects on human behavior, cultural diversity, and societal outcomes.
• Capacity to independently define research questions, lead projects, and effectively collaborate across multiple disciplines.