Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Philosophy) (EXPIRED)

General Summary: 

The Applied Ethics Center (AEC) and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) are excited to invite applications for a full-time Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship on AI and human cognition at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The post is fixed-term for 24 months from the date of appointment.

The post-doctoral fellow will focus on philosophical questions related to integration of artificial intelligence with human cognition such as: the extended cognition approach including electronic devices; the interpenetration and coevolution of technology and the self; neurodevices’ challenge to concepts of autonomy and personal identity; the challenge of neuromodulation to hedonic consequentialism and virtue ethics; the epistemological uncertainty of a future of immersive virtual reality; and the ethics of radical longevity and uploading.

The AI and Cognition Post-Doctoral Fellow will help AEC and IEET research the academic and policy work being done on these questions.

Examples of Duties: 

The AI and Cognition Fellow will be expected to teach between one and two courses per year, write academic articles for publication and present at relevant conferences in consultation with the AEC and IEET. Fellows will be expected to help raise awareness of these issues as a guest classroom lecturer, through writing popular essays, and being a press contact for interviews and podcasts. The Fellow will help organize lectures on these topics by emerging and established scholars. The Fellowship will be capped by a conference on AI and Human Cognition. The Fellow will work with the AEC and IEET to plan the conference and related publications.

Qualifications: 

The ideal candidate will have a PhD (by September 1, 2024) and a publication record in philosophy, neuroscience, computer science, a social scientific discipline, or related fields, and a demonstrated interest in the social, ethical, legal and/or economic implications of artificial intelligence. Experience conducting interdisciplinary research is a plus.

This two-year appointment requires the incumbent to be on campus. This is not a hybrid/remote appointment.

Additional information:

About the Applied Ethics Center at UMass Boston

The Applied Ethics Center (AEC) is located in the Philosophy Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston (www.umb.edu/ethics), and promotes research, teaching, and awareness of ethics in public life.  Through public conversations, specialized courses, and research projects, the center creates a forum for exploring topics ranging from the meaning of artificial Intelligence to the ethics of fighting terrorism to the status of controversial public monuments. 

The AEC is directed by associate professor of philosophy Nir Eisikovits.  Before coming to UMass Boston Professor Eisikovits was associate professor of legal and political philosophy at Suffolk University, where he co-founded and directed the Graduate Program in Ethics and Public Policy. He writes on the ethics of war, transitional justice and on how societies come to terms with their past.

About the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive thinktank founded in 2005 by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom and sociologist James Hughes.  The IEET (ieet.org), a 501c3 nonprofit registered in Connecticut, promotes ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies. The IEET seeks to cultivate academic, professional, and popular understanding of the social implications of emerging technologies, both positive and negative, and to encourage responsible public policies for their safe and equitable use.

The IEET Executive Director James Hughes is a bioethicist and sociologist who has taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Connecticut, Trinity College and the University of Massachusetts Boston. He now serves as an Associate Provost at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future, co-editor of Surviving the Machine Age: Intelligent Technology and the Transformation of Work, and many articles and chapters. 

Application Instructions:

Candidates please apply online with your CV, a cover letter, an article-length writing sample, a short research proposal (no more than 800 words) and three recommendation letters.

The closing date for applications is January 1, 2024. Interviews will take place virtually in January of 2024. The position starts on the first day of the fall semester in 2024. Please contact [email protected] or nir.eisikovits@umb with questions about the role or application process.

Deadline to apply: January 1, 2024

Start Date: Fall 2024

Stipend: $55,000 per year, plus benefits

Application Instructions:

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three references. 

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date.

Salary Range: Commensurate with experience

This is a non-union exempt position. 

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact [email protected] or 617-287-5150.

The University of Massachusetts Boston provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, genetic information, pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition, or membership in any other legally protected class. The University of Massachusetts Boston complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the university operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment.