Damon Binder (Strategy and Forecasting)
This mentor also has a stream in the Biosecurity track.
This stream focuses on how advanced AI could enable new and dangerous physical technologies, and on assessing when risks become tractable or urgent as those capabilities arrive.
Stream overview
Physical-technology enablement post-AGI. How fast would industrial production scale given AGI? When does advanced nanotechnology become available? Could a single actor obtain a first-mover advantage in space prior to achieving a decisive strategic advantage on Earth? These sit within a broader research agenda I'm leading on modelling which physical technologies AI enables, in what order, and how fast.
Mentors
I am a researcher on the Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness team at Coefficient Giving, where I investigate risks from biology, and also think about whether AI could enable other dangerous technologies. Prior to this I worked at the Future of Humanity Institute, and before that completed a PhD in physics at Princeton.
Mentorship style
Half-hour one-on-one weekly meetings by default, with the option to extend or add ad-hoc calls when useful. I'm active on Slack and typically respond within a day for quick questions. I'm happy to read drafts and leave written feedback async between meetings.
Fellows we are looking for
Essential:
- Eagerness to use and experiment with AI tools in novel ways.
- Research independence.
- Intellectual breadth and curiosity. Someone excited to work across many domains of science and to learn a lot in the process.
Preferred:
- Strong quantitative background.
- Background in a natural science or engineering.
- Prior experience driving a research project to completion.
- Some coding experience, ideally in Python.
- Comfort doing fast back-of-envelope modelling under uncertainty.
Project selection
I'll talk with the fellow about what they're interested in, and we'll pick a broad area together from a few directions I'd want to pitch. From there we'll work together to scope something sharp and well-defined, with me leaning on my sense of what's tractable and high-value. The fellow then runs with the project, and we adjust as it develops.