American Philosophical Association Creates 2 Annual $10,000 AI Prizes as Philosophy Jobs Shift Toward Tech
Updated
Updated · The Atlantic · Jun 3
American Philosophical Association Creates 2 Annual $10,000 AI Prizes as Philosophy Jobs Shift Toward Tech
1 articles · Updated · The Atlantic · Jun 3
Summary
$20,000 in annual prize money will fund two new American Philosophical Association awards for scholarship on AI-related questions, with backing from a philanthropy founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt.
The prizes reflect a broader turn toward AI in philosophy: AI-related listings on PhilJobs rose from 1% of roles in 2013 to 16% last year, with many of those openings at junior level.
Major AI companies are also pulling philosophers into product development and safety work. OpenAI says it consulted hundreds of moral philosophers, while DeepMind reportedly employs at least 10 and Anthropic has built Claude around an 84-page constitution.
Universities are responding with new training pipelines, including Arizona State University's planned AI-and-philosophy major in 2027 and the University at Buffalo's new doctorate in applied ontology.
That boom is also stirring concern inside the discipline, with some philosophers warning that AI money and hiring demand could distort research incentives and reward rushed, lower-quality work.
Does embedding philosophy in AI ensure ethics, or just hide corporate bias in code?
Is our quest for ethical AI actually eroding our own critical thinking skills?
How can AI be 'virtuous' while creating mass unemployment and serving military clients?
Philosophy Jobs in the Age of AI: New Roles, Hard Problems, and the Rise of Responsible AI (2022–2026)
Overview
Since 2022, the job market has been rapidly transformed by the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence. As industries embraced AI, awareness of its capabilities surged, leading to nearly quadrupled revenue growth and much faster increases in revenue per employee in AI-exposed sectors. This significant economic payoff from AI investments has boosted productivity and value creation, but it is also reshaping employment, especially in fields like philosophy. The report highlights how these changes create both challenges and new opportunities, emphasizing the growing importance of ethical reasoning and critical thinking in the evolving landscape.