Data Scientist (Contract)

<p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Epoch is seeking part-time data scientists to assist with our AI research efforts. This role involves reviewing technical literature, tracking benchmark data, compiling technical infrastructure details, and analyzing various sources to build comprehensive insights about AI models, data centers, and companies.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 32px;">About the Position</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">This is an independent contractor role, and your main responsibility will be gathering data on the inputs, impacts, and details of AI, as well as carrying out analysis of the gathered data. This may consist of reading recent machine learning papers to extract key details about </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epoch.ai/data/ai-models">model architectures</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">, tracking </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epoch.ai/benchmarks">benchmark scores</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">, processing satellite images and permits to track </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epoch.ai/data/data-centers">data centers</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">, or analyzing financial disclosures as well as news media for information about </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epoch.ai/data/ai-companies">AI companies</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">. In terms of analysis, you will work with our research team to create </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epoch.ai/data-insights">Data Insights</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> and other products.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Your day-to-day activities will be finding and reading a variety of sources, accurately extracting and compiling important details, and reporting on and discussing your findings with your supervisor. An ideal candidate for this role would have an excellent understanding of AI inputs and applications, careful attention to detail, and keen sense for the reliability of information sources. This is an excellent opportunity for those interested in a flexible role gaining exposure to cutting edge AI advancements and doing impactful work. Data you collect will be used in our future research and will inform international AI policy decisions.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">This role is fully remote, and we can set up contracts in many countries. While we welcome applicants from all time zones, you will be expected to attend occasional meetings during most of UTC-7/8 (Pacific Time) working hours. This role is, by default, designed for flexible part-time hours, estimated at 10 to 30 hours per week. However, depending on each candidate's suitability, availability, and interest, more hours per week will be considered.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Successful candidates will report to Yafah Edelman, Head of Data & Trends. </span></p><p><br></p><p><b style="font-size: 16px;">Applications are rolling.</b><span style="font-size: 16px;"> Please </span><b style="font-size: 16px;">do not</b><span style="font-size: 16px;"> include a cover letter, photograph, or headshot of yourself, or any personal information that is not relevant to the role for which you’re applying.</span></p> <p></p><p><br></p><b>Key Responsibilities</b><ul><li>Carefully parsing assigned machine learning papers or benchmark leaderboards and identifying key information.</li><li>Accurately extracting and compiling these technical details.</li><li>Producing informed estimates of metrics about the physical infrastructure supporting AI based on limited information.</li></ul><p><br></p><b>What We Are Looking For</b><ul><li>Ability to work independently and meet deadlines reliably.</li><li>Attention to detail.</li><li>Ability to systematically extract key information from a variety of sources.</li><li>Understanding or interest in a broad array of technical AI topics, especially model evaluations and data centers.</li></ul><p><br></p><b>Compensation & Benefits</b><ul><li>Hourly compensation between $30-40 USD per hour, estimated at 10–30 hours of work per week, depending on your availability (more hours, up to full-time, will be considered). Wages are not restricted to USD, and contracts and payments are usually in local currencies. Conversions are based on average exchange rates.</li><li><b>Fully remote environment,</b> including flexible work hours. </li></ul><p><br></p><p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 32px;">Additional Information</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">While we welcome applicants from all time zones, we prefer candidates who can overlap with UTC–7/8 (Pacific Time).</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Please submit all of your application materials in </span><b style="font-size: 16px;">English</b><span style="font-size: 16px;"> and note that we require professional level English proficiency.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Epoch AI is committed to building an </span><b style="font-size: 16px;">inclusive, equitable, and supportive</b><span style="font-size: 16px;"> community for you to thrive and do your best work. Please don’t hesitate to apply for a role regardless of your age, gender identity/expression, political identity, personal preferences, physical abilities, veteran status, neurodiversity or any other background. Please </span><b style="font-size: 16px;">email </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="mailto:careers@epoch.ai">careers@epoch.ai</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> if you have any questions about this role, accessibility requests, or if you want to request an extension to the application deadline. However, we will not review applications submitted to this email address; please submit your application through the link on this page. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 32px;">About Epoch AI</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Epoch AI is a research institute that investigates trends in machine learning and the economic consequences of AI. Our mission is to develop a comprehensive, publicly accessible knowledge base on AI that informs policymakers, industry leaders, and society at large. We strive to achieve both rigor and accessibility to our work, as exemplified by some of our most successful projects, including our </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epochai.org/data">database of AI models</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> and our </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epochai.org/trends">AI trends dashboard</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">. Our body of research includes our work on </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epochai.org/blog/compute-trends">compute trends</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> (IJCN 2022), </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epochai.org/blog/will-we-run-out-of-data-limits-of-llm-scaling-based-on-human-generated-data">data scarcity</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> (ICML 2024), and </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.05812">algorithmic progress</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> (NeurIPS 2024). You can read more about our work and mission on our </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://epochai.org/">website</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> and in </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="postings-link" style="font-size: 16px;" href="https://time.com/6985850/jaime-sevilla-epoch-ai/">this Time profile</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">. </span></p>

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