Bio
Dave is a Researcher at the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS), where he works on reducing risks from extreme concentration of power. Lately, he has been thinking about how to modernize checks and balances for the AGI era, implement privacy-preserving automated oversight of government AI deployments, and shape the character of AI systems used in government. His past work includes threat modeling secret loyalties in frontier AI models. Previously, he was a research manager at ERA and worked as a security engineer. He holds a BA in Computer Science from Columbia University.
Projects
Research Direction: Reducing extreme power concentration due to AGI
- Writing an AI-enabled coup scenario. The goal of this project would be to write an AI-2027 for AI-enabled coup scenarios.
- A positive vision for executive branch use of AI. There are many ways the executive branch could adopt AI that would be counterproductive or dangerous. Rather than only cataloging failure modes, the goal of this project is to write a "Plan A" report describing how the executive branch ought to use AI. Topics I expect we would dig into include law-following AI, the character of AI systems deployed in government, AI-enabled whistleblowing, and compute parity between the executive branch and Congress. A fellow would survey existing proposals, develop the positive vision into concrete institutional and technical recommendations, and write it up as a public report.
- Privacy-preserving automated oversight of the executive branch. Congress has two core functions: writing laws and overseeing the executive branch. As executive agencies deploy increasingly capable AI systems, congressional oversight will by default fall further and further behind, since agencies will act faster and generate far more decisions and records than human overseers can review. The standard objections to deeper oversight are secrecy-based (classification, deliberative process, executive privilege), which is exactly the class of objection that privacy-preserving AI auditors could dissolve. This project aims to produce a report on how to automate executive branch oversight using such auditors. A fellow working on this project would (1) interview current and former USG employees in oversight roles, such as IG offices, GAO, and committee staff, to map how oversight actually works today (I can help with introductions), (2) write a report proposing reforms, covering both worlds with literal AGI and intermediate worlds where AI automates parts of the oversight pipeline, and (3) socialize these ideas with relevant stakeholders.
- Your own project. I'm also open to mentoring a fellow who wants to pursue their own project in an adjacent area, such as AI-enabled power concentration or AI security, assuming there's a good fit
What I'm looking for in a Mentee
- Strong conceptual reasoning skills
- Strong writing skills
- Strong organizational skills
- (Preferred) background in economics, computer science, or law
What I'm Like as a Mentor
- I will meet with fellows for 1 hour a week and will be available asynchronously for an additional 1-2 hours a week
- I'm very hands-on and give a lot of feedback. I aim to help fellows get fast feedback loops so they can iterate quickly