About Us
Many experts see transformative artificial intelligence as a threat to the continued existence and flourishing of humanity. Research already exists about the best ways governments can mitigate these issues. Our central goal is therefore to distill these issues to policymakers to ensure New Zealand plays its part in reducing catastrophic risk from AI.
Our allies continue to build state capacity to address existing safety challenges, through establishing government AI Safety Institutes, tracking future risks, and passing legislation that ensures innovation moves in the right direction.
The government needs to take action to ensure New Zealand avoids harms and captures benefits from transformative AI. An Australasian AI Safety Institute or model evaluation agency could bring us in alignment with international standards. Fostering an assurance technology industry could ensure New Zealand captures part of the value of increasingly advanced systems.
Aidan Homewood
Co-director
Aidan is interested in helping the private sector make AI go well. He is currently an AI Governance Research Fellow at Pivotal, researching external auditing policy.
Jesse Richardson
Co-director
Jesse is passionate about making sure technological advancements benefit society. He was previously a fellow at the Existential Risk Alliance in Cambridge, UK. Outside of NZAPI he now works as an AI safety researcher.
Lily Stelling
Executive Policy Researcher
Lily cares deeply about preventing dangerous risks that could be neglected. She is studying logic-based approaches for explainable AI, and previously worked for Manatu Hauora and Motu Research.
Ella Flavell
Policy Assistant
Ella wants to ensure that technological innovations serve the well-being of humanity. She is in her final year of a law and arts conjoint degree and has worked in local and central government alongside the deep-tech space.
