GovAI Launches GAPP, a Part-Time AI Policy Program for Graduates and Professionals

What the program offers

According to GovAI, GAPP is designed to let talented graduate students and professionals deepen their expertise, expand their network, and build a technically informed understanding of the AI development and deployment landscape. Members of the cohort take part in an 8-week interdisciplinary program coordinated by GovAI.

The program is built around guided self-study, workshops, and seminars. These focus on artificial intelligence and the immediately pressing policy issues it poses, with an eye toward longer term implications. Topics include AI standards and regulation, governing AI hardware, and international cooperation on AI.

Participants also join discussions with world-leading experts in AI development, policy, and governance. GovAI says the material is meant to distill key context on the current AI landscape and give cohort members hands-on experience engaging with policy questions, while accommodating busy work or academic schedules.

Who can take part

This year's iteration is the first-year pilot of GAPP, so participation is invite-only. Invitations are based on recommendations from partners working in AI governance and policy talent development.

GovAI says participants will generally meet one of three conditions:

• They have graduated from a master's or doctoral program.
• They are currently enrolled in a graduate studies program.
• They have at least two years of professional experience related to national security, law, economics, public policy, international relations, computer science, or a related field.

The organization adds that it may make exceptions for unusually promising candidates.

Expertise and next steps

GovAI notes that it has alumni and staff with experience working in government, at top AI labs including DeepMind and OpenAI, and at think tanks such as the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. GAPP cohorts will have access to this range of expertise.

Those interested in the next cohort, which GovAI says is likely to run in April/May 2024, can fill out an interest form and will be contacted once applications open. For people pursuing a more research-oriented career, GovAI also runs a three-month research fellowship based in Oxford.

For professionals and students in fields such as law, economics, public policy, and computer science, the program is a structured, part-time route into AI governance work. Because the pilot is limited to invited participants, wider access depends on the application round planned for the following cohort.