For years, ambitious students eager to make their mark in Silicon Valley pursued degrees in computer science, software engineering and data analytics—once reliable paths that, in the age of AI, have become dangerous. However, in an unexpected turn, at least one degree is now translating into high-level jobs in every industry: philosophy.
As leading AI firms scramble to solidify their dominance, they also face the challenge of developing and releasing powerful systems with fuzzy inner workings. Enter Philosophers, who go on to hold formal roles at companies such as Anthropic and Google DeepMind. Their work focuses on interpreting model behaviors, aligning systems with human values, and guiding decisions about how these technologies should be managed.
“It seems to be a good time for philosophers in the job market,” Anil Seth, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Sussex who studies consciousness, told the Observer. “This is good. More companies should hire philosophies, because thinking clearly is becoming more and more important.”
Prominent philosophers at Anthropic, Google DeepMind
One of the leading figures in this field is Amanda Askell, a Scottish-born philosopher who studied at New York University and Oxford University. After working at OpenAI, Askell moved to Anthropic in 2021, where he focused on shaping the behavior of his Claude model. He is joined by philosophers such as Joe Carlsmith, who came to Anthropic last year after working for seven years at Open Philanthropy and is similarly working on the character of Claude.
At Google DeepMind, the company’s efforts around AI and behavior are led by Iason Gabriel, a former Oxford professor with a background in political philosophy. The lab recently hired Henry Shevlin, a professor at the University of Cambridge, to work on issues such as “machine understanding, human-AI relationships, and AGI readiness,” according to its announcement.
Questions about whether AI can acquire consciousness—and what that might mean for human-machine relationships—remain very complex. Companies should avoid repeating “ethical mistakes” while also avoiding prematurely granting rights to AI systems, which could risk “disrupting our ability to regulate ourselves, to regulate ourselves, to keep ourselves relevant to human society,” Seth said.
Anthropic has been among the most vocal companies in this regard, not only hiring philosophies but also establishing a dedicated social team. Meta’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, also described the well-being of models as a “very important topic” that deserves more consideration. Others are more skeptical. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, has warned that treating AI systems as a precaution could lead society to a dangerous place.
For now, the motivations for employing philosophers seem strong. “They’re hiring the right people, not just hiring PR people and not just people who can translate to the public what’s going on,” Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosophy professor at the University of Sydney, told the Observer. “These are the people who investigate these issues,” added the philosopher, who once counted Shevlin among his Ph.D. students at the CUNY Graduate Center.
The intersection of AI and philosophy is not limited to Silicon Valley. Academia is changing rapidly as longstanding philosophical questions—about consciousness, behavior, minds and computation—take on new urgency. In some cases, scholars working at this intersection are even developing new forms of language that incorporate mathematical methods, reflecting changes that did not exist a decade ago, according to Godfrey-Smith.
Whether these changes will meaningfully reshape the career prospects of philosophers is uncertain. Students with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and religion earn a median salary of $65,000, below the $70,000 average for all graduates, according to 2023 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which identifies law as the most common occupation for such students.
Philosophical Ph.D. owners, the traditional way has become clearer. “It’s almost certain that your default program is to teach philosophy at the university level,” said Robert Long, who leads Eleos AI, a nonprofit organization focused on AI health.
The emergence of philosophy roles at frontier AI companies is unlikely to significantly change the job market on its own, Long told the Observer. However, the widespread growth of research centers focused on AI and ethics “may change the job market in a meaningful way.” However, the change will be gradual. “There are more and more places that have to do philosophy, but it is not enough to make the job market less difficult and oppress more people.”
