Content Writer (Freelance)
About the role
We’re looking for a freelance writer to help us produce educational articles about AI for our varied audiences. Audiences may include any groups who stand to be impacted by AI, from elections officials to trade unions to research scientists. Articles will often include interactive demonstrations, built by the CivAI engineering team, that convey some aspect of AI capabilities or risks. We’re aiming for the articles to be short and memorable, presenting unique viewpoints on AI that help people make sense of its far-flung impacts.
For most articles, we expect that other members of the CivAI team will brief the writer on the ideas we are looking to convey, along with any software demos we have produced in support. Then, we hope that the writer can craft these into an appropriate piece for the dedicated audience. Articles won’t require substantial outside research, and they generally won’t exceed 500 words.
We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions about this role, please email us at [email protected].
Representative articles
- Economics of cybercrime. For cybercriminals, AI changes the economics of their “business” by vastly reducing their costs. A personalized phishing email previously required research about the victim and expert command of English. Now it can be generated for a fraction of a penny. This will predictably lead to more cybercrime. Includes a demo in which the user can generate fictional, highly personalized phishing emails.
- Automation of human tasks. A recent research paper from METR shows that AIs can automate a large fraction of software-related tasks that humans can complete in 30 minutes or less. We discuss the implications of this finding. Includes a demo of AI carrying out some of the tasks autonomously.
- Contextualizing the news. In early 2024, an AI-generated robocall imitating President Biden’s voice was sent out to 25,000 voters, attempting to dissuade them from voting in the New Hampshire primary. Includes a demo of AI voice cloning using publicly available tools.
Compensation and logistics
- Weekly commitment of 1-10 hours per week, fully remote.
- Compensation will be determined based on experience.
Application materials
- Initial application (30 min) — Resume indicating your prior writing experience, and two relevant writing samples.
- Phone interview (30 min) — We'll discuss your prior writing experience, CivAI's work, and a potential first article to write.
About CivAI
CivAI is a nonprofit that spreads knowledge about AI capabilities and dangers in a unique way. Instead of research papers, we produce interactive software experiences that provide a deep, intuitive sense of where AI is and where it’s going. We present these demos to targeted audiences—policymakers, interest groups, conferences—and make scalable versions available to the public.
Since 2023, we have built demos of AI-generated phishing, election interference, one-shot deepfakes, and more. We have presented these to dozens of groups, including federal and state congressional offices, elections officials, and trade associations. Press coverage of our work, including mentions in the New York Times and Washington Post, can be found here. This video interview with Scripps News is a good place to start.
CivAI is aiming for a world where people deeply grasp AI capabilities, and make better decisions because of it. This is a world that holds AI developers responsible for the externalities they are producing, while also finding use cases that transform lives for the better. CivAI’s work brings a new kind of evidence to the discourse—simple, intuitive, and incontrovertible because users can interact with it firsthand.
CivAI is an equal opportunity workplace, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds regardless of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, socioeconomic status, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
