Senior Economist - Effects of Transformative AI
Level inferred from job title
Job description
CARMA seeks an economist to join its Geostrategic Dynamics team to research how advanced AI systems will reshape global economic paradigms, incentive structures, and power dynamics. The role develops models and scenarios to anticipate economic risks from accelerating AI capabilities.
At a glance
- Work mode
- Remote
- Pay
- USD 140,000 – 190,000 / year
What you'll do
- Develop economic models to anticipate how advanced AI systems could create novel systemic risks and vulnerabilities
- Build scenarios for potential economic disruptions from rapid AI advancement, including deflation, labor displacement, and market concentration
- Model how AI-driven productivity changes could interact with existing economic structures to create new forms of inequality or disruption
- Analyze potential concentration of power dynamics across markets, regions, and demographic groups as AI capabilities advance
- Identify early warning indicators for economic instability, financial system shocks, and deteriorating standards of living
- Translate complex economic risk analyses into actionable insights and present to policymakers, multilateral institutions, and other key stakeholders
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary experts to integrate economic risk perspectives into broader AI safety considerations
What we're looking for
- Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in Economics with expertise in labor economics and international economics
- Demonstrated ability to rethink traditional economic models in response to paradigmatic disruptions
- Strong publication or research record showing original thinking on economic systems and risks
- Comfortable with uncertainty and using limited data, to predict novel economic phenomena
- Excellent writing skills with proven ability to communicate complex economic concepts to non-specialist audiences
- Self-motivated researcher with demonstrated interest in AI's systemic risks
- Strong critical thinking skills for evaluating competing economic theories in unprecedented scenarios
- Familiarity with US and EU policy landscapes and basic understanding of international relations
- Systems thinking capability to identify complex interdependencies between economic factors
Nice to have
- Training in econometrics or other applied quantitative methods
- Coding proficiency (e.g., Python, R, or Rust) for economic risk modeling
- Experience working in policy, multilateral institutions, or government contexts
- Understanding of systemic risk analysis and complex adaptive systems
- Knowledge of AI capabilities and their potential economic impacts
- Background in macroprudential analysis or financial stability research
- Experience with scenario planning or other foresight methodologies for identifying emerging risks
- Familiarity with political economy approaches to power distribution and concentration
- Experience analyzing the impacts of technological transitions or structural economic changes
- Background in behavioral economics relevant to human responses to economic disruption
Your team
Geostrategic Dynamics team
A collaborative, intellectually rigorous team examining how AI capabilities will transform international economic systems and power dynamics, drawing on interdisciplinary expertise from colleagues specializing in international relations, AI, and quantitative modeling.
Apply
Direct apply at Future of Life Organizations
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About CARMA (Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment)
The Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA) works to help society navigate the complex and potentially catastrophic risks arising from increasingly powerful AI systems. It focuses on grounding AI risk management in rigorous analysis, developing policy frameworks that squarely address AGI, advancing technical safety approaches, and fostering global perspectives on durable safety. CARMA is a fiscally-sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Mission
To lower the risks to humanity and the biosphere from transformative AI.
Key facts
- Fiscally-sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation