2023 ILINA Fellows

Ahmed Ghoor

Ahmed’s project aims to engage in a meaningful collaboration with Muslim communities to address long-term global catastrophic risks. Through comprehensive research, the project intends to explore where Islamic intellectual thought intersects, diverges and can contribute to current long-term risk mitigation strategies. Based on this research, Ahmed plans to create educational resources, map out advocacy strategies and develop a fellowship program to support Muslims who are passionate about long-term risk mitigation.

Diana Owuor

Diana will work on a research project that aims to investigate the influence that the BRICS collaboration could have on the international governance of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) development. Existing proposals for governing the development of AGI seem to underappreciate the underlying motivations that ground the relations and goals of the BRICS group of nations. Diana’s project will try to uncover what these goals and motivations could mean for the kinds of international AGI governance interventions that are likely to be most workable.

Jacob Ayang

Jacob’s project will investigate poultry farmers’ attitudes towards cage-free farming while identifying challenges and exploring solutions and financial implications of cage-free transitions. Although the focus of his work will be Ghana, his findings will be useful for other African countries as well. The project will provide an enhanced understanding of the poultry industry in Ghana and offer insights into potential areas for initiatives to support the industry’s transition from caged to cage-free systems of egg production.

Marie-Victoire Iradukunda

Marie will be undertaking research on the design of regulation aimed at preventing existential risks. The project will argue that the best way to craft such regulation is through building measures which are primarily designed to address existing risks but which then have the resultant effect of addressing existential risks as well. Marie’s project will propose that such a regulatory approach may help to reduce the tension and resistance that discourse around existential risks often seems to create. At the same time, the approach could unlock new possibilities of allyship between the communities working on existential risks and those working on more neartermist risks.

Mark Lenny Gitau

Mark’s research is geared towards improving a method that is designed to help us identify the early warning signs of transformative progress in AI (the “artificial canaries” method). At the moment, the method is focused on identifying key milestones towards an event, identifying dependency relations between these milestones through causal graphs and identifying milestones which underpin many others as canaries. Mark’s project will propose a way for the artificial canaries method to incorporate the assessment of timescales into any causal graphs developed. This proposed adjustment to the method would make it easier to identify signs that warn of future progress while concurrently allowing us time to prepare for transformative AI.

Mitchelle Kang’ethe

Mitchelle’s project will look into what having highly capable intelligent tutoring systems embedded into education could mean for the equality of learners in sub-Saharan African countries. While these systems have the promise of deeply personalizing learning and allowing educators to accomplish their goals in a better way, they could also widen existing inequalities in a radical manner. The ultimate aim of her project is to identify effective interventions for this potential problem.

Muthoni Wanjiku

Muthoni’s research project will examine whether transformative AI could lead to advanced neurotechnology that leaves human autonomy in an undesirable state. The project will show how transformative AI could turbocharge Human-Computer Brain Interfaces (BCIs), and how this may create an opening for the direct manipulation of brain mechanisms. If this is satisfied, her project will propose interventions whose focus will be the preservation of human autonomy.

Sienka Dounia

Sienka will use his time in the fellowship to upskill in the field of technical AI alignment. He will be closely guided by Jake Mendel, independent AI alignment researcher and intern at David Krueger’s lab at the University of Cambridge. As part of his upskilling, Sienka will participate in reading groups such as Artificial General Intelligence Safety Fundamentals 201, Principles of Intelligent Behavior in Biological and Social Systems reading group and Pytorch & Keras fundamentals. He will also take courses in linear algebra and information theory.

Stacy Gatumbo

Stacy Gatumbo will design and run a 16-hour outreach seminar for a select group of Kenyan undergraduate students. The seminar will focus on improving participants’ understanding of social impact, helping them get better at clear thinking and giving them insights on how to think about having impactful careers. Eventually, it is hoped that seminar participants will go on to seek other opportunities that leave them in a good position to have high-impact careers.

Tim Sankara

Tim will use his time in the fellowship to upskill in the field of technical AI alignment. He will be closely guided by Jake Mendel, independent AI alignment researcher and intern at David Krueger’s lab at the University of Cambridge. As part of his upskilling, Tim will participate in reading groups such as Artificial General Intelligence Safety Fundamentals 201, Principles of Intelligent Behavior in Biological and Social Systems reading group and Pytorch & Keras fundamentals. He will also take courses in linear algebra and information theory.

If you would like to be connected to any of our 2023 fellows, please send us an email at info@ilinaprogram.org

2023 ILINA Seminar Participants

  1. Abraham Omollo
  2. Alex Irungu
  3. Angelique Muhavani
  4. Beryl Kanali
  5. Brian Kibet
  6. Cynthia Mburu
  7. Darryl Isabel
  8. Delar Makonnen
  9. Ephy Kamau
  10. Fiona Mwaura
  11. Gathoni Kihumba
  12. George Gor
  13. Georgina Okello
  1. Grace Chege
  2. Ibitoye Olukosi
  3. Jesse Thaiya
  4. Jewel Tete
  5. Johny Kitheka
  6. Karwitha Mwendwa
  7. Kwezi Mpyisi
  8. Lulu Sorobit
  9. Marion Okello
  10. Michael Obaya
  11. Mwende Nzioki
  12. Natalie Gitau
  13. Natasha Chao
  1. Njoki Mungai
  2. Peter Muindi
  3. Peter Wanyangi
  4. Raqda Sayidali
  5. Riana Okello
  6. Rivaldo Nyakweba
  7. Sharon Malonza
  8. Sheena Kuchio
  9. Tasneem Pirbhai
  10. Tom Oduo
  11. Victoria Mutuku
  12. Wayne Simwa
  13. Yvonne Mule
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