Content Writer and Researcher

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is hiring a content writer to research and write engaging blog posts on a variety of topics related to our cause areas, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nuclear weapons, and other existential risks. You will also work closely with other team members to research and produce high-quality, informative, and impactful content in other formats, such as op-eds, videos, and infographics. You may also have opportunities to collaborate on projects with other content creators.

FLI works to reduce global catastrophic risks from transformative technologies and develop optimistic yet realistic visions of the future.

We expect this role to begin at 8 – 10 hours per week. This will potentially increase or even turn into a full-time role depending on your performance and our organizational needs.

As Content Writer, you will:

• Research and write compelling blog posts on topics related to FLI’s mission and cause areas.
• Perform research and writing for a range of other content types, including op-eds, videos, infographics, and more.
• Collaborate with other team members to ensure consistent and cohesive messaging.
• Adhere to SEO best practices to increase visibility and reach of our content.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in relevant fields and incorporate new findings into your writing.
• Ensure all content is accurate, well-researched, and aligns with FLI’s values and goals.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with other content creators.

Required Qualifications

• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Strong research skills and ability to distill complex information into accessible and engaging content.
• Proven experience in content writing, preferably in topics related to technology, science, or global risk.
• Knowledge and experience with SEO best practices.
• Ability to work independently and manage time effectively to meet deadlines.
• Passion for FLI’s mission and cause areas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Opportunity to leverage the technical expertise of our talented and experienced staff.
• A publishing platform with a reputable brand (over 100K monthly searches for FLI brand terms) and multiple high-ranking domains (futureoflife.org, artificialintelligenceact.eu, autonomousweapons.org) with a large volume of search impressions (4M per month) and regular visitors (20K per month).
• Flexible, remote role.
• Collaborative and supportive team culture.
• Potential to transition to a full-time role based on performance and organizational needs.

Application Process

Application Deadline: August 4, 2024. Rolling applications may be considered after the application deadline if the position has not been filled.

Application Process: Apply by uploading your resume and optional cover letter, alongside responses to the following questions:

• What do you think about existential risks? [200 words maximum]
• Write three ‘proposals’ for blog posts to be published on the FLI website, with each proposal consisting of a title and a 1-2 sentence blurb. These posts should be focused on our cause areas and projects, and aim to attract new visitors to our site.

FLI aims to be an inclusive organization. We proactively seek job applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. If you are passionate about FLI’s mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role even though you may not check all the boxes, please still apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

Questions may be directed to jobsadmin@futureoflife.org.

About the Future of Life Institute

Founded in 2014, FLI is an independent non-profit working to steer transformative technology towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks. Our work includes grantmaking, educational outreach, and policy engagement.

Our work has been featured in The Washington Post, Politico, Vox, Forbes, The Guardian, the BBC, and Wired.

Some of our achievements include:

• Pause Giant AI Experiments, an open letter calling for a 6 month pause on the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. The letter has been signed by more than 30,000 people, including Yoshua Bengio, Stuart Russell, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Yuval Noah Harari, and Andrew Yang.
• The Asilomar AI Principles, one of the earliest and most influential sets of AI governance principles.
• Slaughterbots, a viral video campaign raising awareness about the dangers of lethal autonomous weapons.
• The Future of Life Award, which retrospectively awards unsung heroes who made the world a better place. Past winners include individuals who prevented nuclear wars, helped to eradicate smallpox, and solved the ozone crisis.
• Worldbuild.ai, which imagines flourishing futures with strong AI and works out how to get there.

FLI is a largely virtual organization, with a team of 20 distributed across Europe and the US. We have offices in Campbell, California and in Brussels, Belgium, and meet in person as a full team twice a year.

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