PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Iason Gabriel

Iason Gabriel is a philosopher whose AI research asks how systems can reflect human values, support fair outcomes, and limit social harm. Before DeepMind, he taught political theory at Oxford and did crisis work for the United Nations Development Programme in Sudan and Lebanon; he joined DeepMind in 2017. His papers examine AI alignment, distributive justice, language-model risks, and the ethics of AI assistants and agents. As of October 2026, he is a philosopher and research scientist at Google DeepMind.

Works
77
Citations
2,805
h-index
23

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2017

    Oxford and UN development work

    By 2017, he is a Fellow in Politics at St John’s College, Oxford, and teaches political theory. He also does crisis work for the United Nations Development Programme in Sudan and Lebanon, and holds a doctorate in Political Theory from Oxford.

  2. Since 2017

    Joining DeepMind

    He joins DeepMind in 2017 and thinks through AI’s impact.

  3. 2020

    Values and AI alignment

    In 2020, he publishes “Artificial Intelligence, Values and Alignment,” and argues that a principle-based approach can help align AI with human values.

  4. 2021

    A theory of AI justice

    In 2021, he applies John Rawls’s political philosophy to AI and argues that society’s basic structure is a composite of socio-technical systems increasingly shaped by AI.

  5. 2021

    Risks from language models

    In 2021, he coauthors “Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Models,” which outlines six risk areas and reviews 21 risks associated with large language models.

  6. 2024

    Ethics of AI assistants

    In 2024, he coauthors “The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants,” which examines their opportunities and ethical and societal risks.

  7. 2025

    Ethics for AI agents

    In 2025, he coauthors the Nature article “We need a new ethics for a world of AI agents,” which examines safety, human-machine relationships and social coordination. In March 2025, he speaks about AI assistant ethics as a staff research scientist in DeepMind’s ethics team.

  8. As of October 2026

    Research at Google DeepMind

    As of October 2026, he is a philosopher and research scientist at Google DeepMind.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Iason Gabriel yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. ‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian theguardian.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Iason Gabriel on Foundational Philosophical Questions in AI Alignment - Future of Life Institute futureoflife.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. [2001.09768] Artificial Intelligence, Values and Alignment arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. [2110.14419] Toward a Theory of Justice for Artificial Intelligence arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. [2112.04359] Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Models arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. [2404.16244] The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Dr Iason Gabriel iasongabriel.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Interview: Thinking through the ethics of AI assistants with Iason Gabriel from Google DeepMind | Google Workspace workspace.google.com. Checked 14 October 2026.