Software Engineer (Fixed Term)

The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) at the University of Cambridge invites applications for a full time Software Engineer to join the innovative "Kinds of Intelligence" project exploring AI and human intelligence using the Animal-AI Environment ( http://lcfi.ac.uk/projects/kinds-of-intelligence/animalaiolympics/; ttps://github.com/mdcrosby/animal-ai ), from January 2023.  It is an exciting opportunity for a talented individual to join the cutting-edge research team, supporting the development of this unique platform.

CFI is a highly interdisciplinary research centre addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, CFI is based in central Cambridge, with partners in Oxford, Imperial, and UC Berkeley. The Centre has close links with industry, policymakers, and many academic disciplines.

This role is within the Kinds of Intelligence program. The Animal-AI Project, led by Dr Lucy Cheke, uses the Unity platform to create cognitive tasks based on research in Developmental and Animal Psychology. These are used to explore cognitive capacities of AI agents, with the aim of developing new benchmarks. This team ran the "Animal-AI Olympics" competition in 2019, and have since been upgrading the platform for the next generation of cognitive tests. These assessments can be played as games, allowing assessment of cognitive abilities both in humans and AI agents on a comparable metric. We aim to extend the reach of this tool outside of the machine learning community.

The role involves Unity, along with ML-Agents, to expand and improve the Animal-AI environment, and to establish an online portal for human participants to access these games. Experience working with Unity is thus essential. This role will suit someone who enjoys using their technical skills and knowledge ¿ and who is always looking to develop these. You will collaborate with a highly diverse team, including researchers in the fields of psychology, zoology, philosophy and computer science. The ideal candidate is a full-stack software engineer with experience in of creating 3D environments in Unity and deploying these via websites. You will bring together elements of robust evaluation tools and computer game development to create a system that can be a stimulating computer game, as well as an assessment tool for both human and AI agent capabilities. You will have a passion for game development and enjoy rapid iterative development for products or research.

For your application to be considered, please upload:

• Curriculum Vitae

• A cover letter of no more than 1,000 words outlining skills and experience you have relevant for this role.Please include examples and evidence that demonstrate your skills/capabilities,with particular regard to game development and AI.

• The names and contact details of two referees who are familiar with your work

The funds for this post are available for 8 months in the first instance.

The closing date for applications is midnight (GMT) on Monday 12 December 2022. Interviews are planned for early January 2023, subject to change.

If you have any questions about this vacancy, please contact Rachel Burgess on administrator@lcfi.cam.ac.uk.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please visit :

http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/38122.

Please quote reference GO34153 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

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