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Mapping the Organizations Shaping Our Technological Future (AI Labs, Tech Evaluators, Governance, Ideologies)

Futures Center / Field Guide to the Futures Ecosystem

Who decides what the technological future looks like, and how are those organizations related to each other? The Field Guide to the Futures Ecosystem is a research project building a structured dataset and typological framework for the organizations that shape emerging technology development and governance. The dataset currently covers 40+ organizations across eight clusters, ranging from frontier AI laboratories to safety evaluation bodies, policy institutes, philanthropic funders, and standards-setting organizations.

The intern would help expand the dataset by researching and profiling 5 to 10 new organizations, contribute to the typological framework used to classify and compare them, and help prepare materials for the OSF dataset publication and working paper. This is a genuine research contribution to a novel mapping effort. The dataset infrastructure exists and the working paper has been published internally.

The project is part of JOPRO's Futures Center and connects to the FrontierMap methodology and the broader investigation of how fields and institutional ecosystems form and stabilize.

What you'll do

• Research and profile 5–10 new organizations for the dataset, with a focus on their stated missions, funding structures, and relationships to other organizations in the ecosystem
• Contribute to the typological framework for classifying futures-oriented organizations
• Help prepare materials for the OSF dataset publication
• Write a short analytical memo on one cluster or dimension of the ecosystem
• Contribute to the working paper development

Who this is for

Students in political science, STS, science policy, organizational studies, journalism, or anyone with a demonstrated interest in the AI, technology governance, or futures landscape. Comfort with structured research and data organization is helpful. No technical background required.

Details

• Duration 10–12 weeks
• Compensation Unpaid (strong candidate for grant-funded RA position)
• Location Remote
• Time commitment ~10 hours/week (flexible)
• Level Undergraduate or graduate