Joris Postmus

I think AI is the most significant human invention of our time, and as someone in the field, I feel a real responsibility to help make sure it develops in ways that are genuinely good.

This is what originally got me into AI safety. I previously co-founded AISIG, which started as a student initiative in Groningen and later became SAIN Groningen, helping form the national AI safety organization in the Netherlands. I still serve on the advisory board in Groningen. I also do research on making language models more interpretable and steerable, including work on controlling model behavior presented at a NeurIPS workshop.

Over the years, I've noticed that the problems I care about most deeply often trace back to the same human patterns. Growing disconnection and polarization, collapsing epistemics, and an inability to coordinate even when the stakes are existential. I think a lot of this comes down to ego, self-deception, a fundamental disconnect from how our own minds actually work, and a prisoner's dilemma playing out at a global scale. I also think AI, if developed and used properly, gives us a real chance to help people grow past those patterns, epistemically, cognitively, and spiritually, at a scale that was never possible before.

Given where my skills, personal interests, and sense of purpose point right now, Waking Up is where I want to focus. I've used the app for over five years, and the practice has deeply transformed how I think, experience, and relate to myself and others. In my current R&D role, I'm bringing what I've learned across AI safety research, engineering, and product development to what I believe is the most important mission I could be contributing to right now.