Emilio Barkett

Emilio Barkett

Hello! I'm an AI Safety Generalist specializing in fieldbuilding at the intersection between AI safety and the social sciences. Specifically, I focus on leveraging the deep, underutilized talent pool of social science researchers for AI safety.

My own research focus within that sits in empirical and technical AI governance, spanning two threads: (1) how AI systems replicate human behavior and the attendant consequences for society, with particular attention to how these systems pick up and reproduce human biases, personas, and social dynamics; and (2) how organizations approach and adopt AI systems as an emerging technology, with particular attention to how they identify, communicate about, and manage the risks that come with that adoption.

I’m currently a Research Mentor at SPAR, where I lead projects investigating the above topics. Previously, I earned an MA in Media Studies / Sociology from Columbia University under the advisement of Diane Vaughan and James Chu. Before that, I studied Communication and Political Science at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, where I got my start in research with Mason Allred and read a lot of dead philosophers. I also spent a summer as a graduate researcher in the Management Division at Columbia Business School with Alan Zhang.

During my time at Columbia, I served as a Research Manager and AI Governance Fellowship Facilitator with the Columbia AI Alignment Club (CAIAC). In the former, my research group investigated how language models exhibited human behaviors, including truth-bias, ideological bias, and escalation of commitment. In the latter, I led ~25 students through the fundamentals of the field and guided them in generating new research ideas in AI Safety.

In terms of personal interests, I spend lots of time and energy on running, swimming, reading, music (jazz, classical, indie), philosophy, photography, and many other things. Previously, I volunteered in the Republic of Kiribati for nine months; paced 45 miles of the HURT 100; and backpacked through Switzerland, Austria, and Italy with my wife.

Feel free to reach out for any reason; I’m always happy to chat with new people.

Publications

Preprints

Works in Progress

Contributions as an RA