Staff profile

I am currently an assistant professor in the philosophy department. I am also a fellow of the Institute for Medical Humanities (Durham Unviersity) and a faculty affiliate of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (University of Toronto). 

Before arriving at Durham University, I was an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada), where I also taught in the Faculty of Computer Science. Previously, I held postdoctoral fellowships (2020-21) at Mila - Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute and the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (Université de Montréal), as well as the SRI (University of Toronto).

I received my PhD (2020) from the department of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine, where I was supervised by Jeffrey A. Barrett. I previously received an MA (2018) in Social Science from the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences at UC Irvine, as well as an MA (2016) in Philosophy from Simon Fraser University and a BA (2014) in Philosophy (Hons.) and English Literature from the University of British Columbia.

My Erdös number is 4, along the following path:

Jeffrey A. Barrett → Brian Skyrms → Persi Diaconis → Paul Erdös

Research

My research centres on philosophical questions surrounding the dynamics of complex social systems, often using formal tools from evolutionary game theory. This work includes interrelated projects in the areas of (1) ethically-aligned artificial intelligence, (2) social dynamics, norms, and conventions, and, more recently, (3) the philosophy of autism.

Philosophy and Ethics of AI and Emerging Technologies.

My main research programme surrounds the philosophy and ethics of AI. My primary focus has been on value-alignment problems in the context of AI systems. As these systems become more sophisticated and more deeply embedded in society, it will become increasingly essential to ensure that we can maintain control of them and that the decisions and actions they take are aligned with our values. My research emphasises that ensuring value alignment for AI systems requires more than just translating our best normative theories into a programming language.

The Philosophy of Autism and Autistic Philosophy.

Since Fall 2022, beginning with a graduate seminar that I designed to teach at Dalhousie University (Philosophy on the Spectrum: The Philosophy of Autism and Autistic Philosophy), I have been exploring philosophical research on autism spectrum disorders. Stuart Murray suggests that the very idea of an autistic person is a philosophical one. However, Kenneth Richman points out that ‘the philosophy of autism’ is not (yet) a subfield of philosophy insofar as philosophical work on autism has fallen primarily under ethics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, or philosophy of medicine. Although the philosophy of autism is a fruitful research area within and without these narrower domains, my main research interest concerns (what I refer to as) autistic philosophy.

Social Dynamics, Norms, and Conventions.

A unifying focus of my research concerns questions surrounding social dynamics and the cultural and biological evolution of social phenomena. Primarily, this work has centred on language origins, but I have also studied the dynamics of other non-linguistic social phenomena.

Teaching

In Michaelmas (September-December, 2025), I will be teaching on The Philosophical Traditions (PHIL 1091) and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (PHIL 42415).

In Epiphany 2026 (January-March, 2026), I will be teaching Ethics and Values (PHIL 1011) and Political Philosophy (PHIL 2081).