ScenarioAutonomous scientific discovery governance

Autonomous Research Ethics Steward

Also called AGI Research Ethics Steward

An Autonomous Research Ethics Steward would oversee ethics and consent across machine-directed research programmes. This depends on how AI develops, and nobody is hiring for it now. If it arrives, it would keep research within its authorised scope.

What they do

The steward would sit between automated research systems and the people they could affect. They would set up the ethics review process for work that machines propose and run. They would check each proposed programme against its authorised scope and flag anything that drifts outside it. They would work out where participants or communities could be affected, and whether consent is real and still valid. They would review evidence from the system and from independent validators. They would decide when work pauses for human review. They would also keep the records that show how each decision was made.

What a strong hire delivers

In the first months, a strong hire would produce a working ethics oversight process that the research and engineering teams actually follow. They would define what authorised scope means in practice and how breaches get escalated. They would set up a review evidence trail that an outside auditor could read. They would also agree clear stop points with lab leads, so that oversight does not depend on goodwill.

How you can tell they are good

Ask them to walk through an ethics review they ran where the work moved faster or in a different direction than planned. Listen for how they kept consent meaningful. Ask them to design a review for a system that chooses its own experiments. A strong candidate names what evidence they would need and who could stop the work. Be wary of people who only recite principles.

Why it is hard to fill

If this role emerged, it would be scarce because it joins three worlds that rarely overlap: research ethics, laboratory safety and an understanding of how autonomous systems behave. No established title or career ladder would exist. Most ethics reviewers have never worked with machine-directed research, and most AI governance people have never run a laboratory review. Candidates would be judged on judgement, which is hard to screen for.

Where to find them

Today the likely sources are research assurance and integrity teams, institutional review and ethics committees, laboratory safety and biosafety officers, and senior scientists who have led programmes. Some would come from AI governance and assurance groups, or from teams doing scenario analysis for frontier labs. Universities, research institutes, regulated laboratories and model developers would be the main places to look.

Interview questions for an Autonomous Research Ethics Steward

  1. Describe an ethics or safety review you led where the work changed direction midway. What did you do?

    A strong answer shows they re-reviewed rather than waved changes through, and explains how they kept consent valid. Worry if they describe review as a one-off gate at the start, or cannot give a real example.

  2. How would you define the authorised scope for a system that chooses its own experiments?

    Good answers set boundaries by risk, method and who is affected, and name who can change them. Worry about vague scope statements, or about scope that the system itself could widen.

4 more questions, with what a strong answer covers, are in the Role Kit.

Job description you can post

We are building research programmes in which automated systems help plan and run scientific work. We need someone to own how ethics and consent are handled across that work. You would set the oversight process, review the evidence and decide when work must stop.

What you will do

  • Design and run the ethics oversight process for machine-directed research
  • Define and maintain the authorised scope for each programme
  • Review proposed work for risk to participants and communities
  • Check that consent stays valid as research direction changes
  • Work with lab, safety and engineering teams on stop points
  • Keep review records that an outside party could audit
  • Escalate breaches and lead the response

What you will bring

  • Demonstrated experience running ethics or research assurance reviews
  • Examples of making difficult stop or approve decisions
  • Working knowledge of laboratory safety or biosafety practice
  • Understanding of how autonomous systems can fail or drift
  • Clear written reasoning that others can follow and challenge
  • Ability to hold a position with senior scientists

Nice to have

  • Experience in AI governance or assurance
  • Experience leading a scientific research programme
  • Experience working with independent validators or auditors

Free to use and adapt. If it saves you time, a link back to this page is appreciated.

Depends on a scenario

End-to-end automated scientific discovery

What AI would need to do
Systems autonomously formulate, execute and verify novel scientific work across disciplines.
What organisations would need to decide
Labs can safely connect models to instruments with independent validation and authorisation.
What would rule it out
Scientific novelty, reproducibility or safe experiment execution remains unreliable.

We give no date. The role becomes real if both conditions hold.

Skills that matter

  • Scientific domain expertiseAdvancedApply disciplinary theory and experimental standards
  • Lab automation and biosafetyAdvancedIntegrate instruments and safe experiment execution
  • AI governance and assuranceWorkingAssign accountability and verify lifecycle controls
  • Frontier scenario analysisWorkingExplore conditional outcomes without claiming predictions

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How we wrote this

Role definitions are our own editorial work, checked against occupational classifications, standards, research and employer pages. Titles vary by company, and this is a description of the work, not a job advert. Scenario roles describe responsibilities that depend on stated conditions; they are not forecasts.

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