About Us
Objective
Our mission is to guide humanity toward vibrant and flourishing futures. To this end, TFI leverages foresight and forecasting methods to anticipate societal-scale risks from transformative AI.
Why We Exist
TFI was formed to develop novel foresight and forecasting methodologies and tools designed to anticipate societal-scale risks from transformative technologies. While we perceive there to be many risks to humanity’s long-term prosperity, the rapid advancements in AI appear to be the most pressing of these, and demand immediate attention.
Indeed, rapid AI progress is already transforming all aspects of society—from how we work to how we learn, to how we envisage to fight future wars. What we do to prepare for and manage this technological transformation in the coming years will determine the remainder of human history. We therefore feel that we must act urgently to steer AI development in a direction that will mitigate harm and maximize benefit for human civilization.
Our Role
Many research organizations primarily address catastrophic and existential risk from AI technology, which already influences policy-makers. In contrast, societal-scale AI risks remain a relatively neglected topic. At TFI, we specialize in foresight and forecasting techniques, which hold great promise to identify societal-scale AI risks stemming from AI, and we are committed to enhance these methodologies. By improving our foresight and forecasting techniques, we can enable more comprehensive assessments of AI risks, fostering a virtuous cycle of astute insights into AI futures. These insights are indispensable for effective planning and preparation, ensuring that we maximize the potential for a positive future for humanity as AI technology rapidly progresses. As the only AI safety research organization focused on foresight and forecasting, and with our focus specifically on societal-scale harms, TFI is uniquely positioned to contribute such critical insights.
What We Do
At TFI we focus our energy on creating high-quality research related to societal-scale AI risk, which falls under our three key focus areas:
- foresight and forecasting
- structural risks from AI
- AI governance and evaluations
Our Impact
Disseminating our relevant research among key stakeholders is key to our impact. Current readerships include the RAND Corporation, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and their AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), individuals involved in the UK AI Safety Institute Summit, and other individuals working in Washington, D.C. Check out Our Work to learn more!
Our Values
TFI values the future of humanity and believes that mitigating near- to medium- term risks from advanced AI is the most important thing we can do to protect it. As a research organization, TFI values high-quality robust research which includes integrity, novelty, and timely dissemination. Since technology is advancing rapidly, TFI values flexibility, nimbleness, and the ability to pivot quickly to respond to emerging AI safety and governance concerns.