I Think, Therefore I Am Getting Paid by an AI Company
Philosophers are increasingly being recruited by tech companies to help shape artificial intelligence. This trend has emerged as the AI boom accelerates, with firms seeking philosophical insights to navigate ethical dilemmas. The collaboration between philosophy and AI is seen as essential for developing more responsible and virtuous technologies.
- ▪Philosophers with Ph.D.s are being hired by major tech companies to influence AI development.
- ▪In 2013, only 1 percent of philosophy job roles were related to AI, but that figure rose to 16 percent last year.
- ▪AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are consulting philosophers to inform their technology's ethical frameworks.
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TechnologyI Think, Therefore I Am Getting Paid by an AI CompanySilicon Valley is turning to philosophers to help build better bots.By Lila ShroffIllustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.June 3, 2026, 2:31 PM ET ShareSave Philosophy has long suffered an unfortunate reputation as pedantic and abstruse. In one of the most prominent debates of the 20th century, philosophers spent a great deal of energy arguing over what the means. Paul Graham, the legendary tech investor, studied philosophy as a college student, which seemed “an impressively impractical thing to do,” as he later wrote.
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