Career Profile: Cecil Abungu
“I love seeing a junior person grow to the point that they go on to greater things and make a name for themselves in the field.”
Cecil Abungu is currently studying a PhD at the University of Cambridge and is a Research Affiliate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) and the Institute for Law and AI. He also coordinates the ILINA Program, which supports Africans working on mitigating global catastrophic risks. He earned his undergraduate law degree at Strathmore Law School in Nairobi and studied his Master’s at Harvard Law School.
What was the career journey that led you to your current role?
I’ve always planned to be an academic since I was an undergrad. Initially, my primary research focus was constitutional law. Then I started gaining an interest in artificial intelligence regulation around the time I was starting my master’s degree at Harvard Law School. I cemented that focus while at Harvard, then did some AI research fellowships and visits afterwards with the Institute for Law and AI (then known as Legal Priorities Project) and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. Throughout this journey, two things have made a significant difference: A couple of remarkably kind people and the consistent financial support of Open Philanthropy.
Can you describe what a typical day looks like?
I spend my morning hours reading or writing and then spend the afternoons and evenings replying to emails, doing administrative work or in meetings with students, mentees or collaborators. On days when I’m teaching, this schedule is jumbled up and I end up working into the night. This happens more often than I’d like.
What are the skills that are required to succeed in your job? Are there any which are particularly overlooked?
Important skills include diligence, the ability to prioritise quickly and efficiently, and consistent attention to detail. The most overlooked skill is probably thoughtfulness. A lot of the work I do is people-facing, and people are complex. I often don’t think people are thoughtful enough. They can be overly fixated on what they’re going to gain from an interaction.
What has been your proudest accomplishment while working in the field?
One accomplishment I’m proud of has been the kind of opportunities I’ve been able to create for other talented young Africans to get into AI safety research, as well as the quality of people I’ve been able to get into AI safety research. I’m hoping to be prouder of the research work I do and object-level impact I have on policy questions soon.
Are there any parts of your job that are particularly exciting or challenging?
I love hard policy questions – figuring out the best answers is always exciting. I also love seeing a junior person grow to the point that they go on to greater things and make a name for themselves in the field. I love reading and teaching – I guess because I’m an academic at heart.
Some challenging aspects of the role include always having to engage with so many people, or struggling to get recognition because you’re not working on certain questions. There’s also just a lot to do and it’s easy to get burned out.
What types of skills does the field of AI governance need more of? Is there a particular skill set that is especially useful?
I’d love to see more people with a deep understanding of sociology in the field – I think the kind of analysis they could do is underrated. A useful skill could be the ability to decide the right research directions and develop good questions to study. That seems to be an extremely rare skill in my view.