Derek Shiller
Bio
Derek Shiller is a Senior Researcher at Rethink Priorities on the Worldview Investigations team, where he works on applied philosophy and artificial cognition. He holds a PhD in philosophy and has written on topics in metaethics, consciousness, and the philosophy of probability. Before joining Rethink Priorities, he served as the lead web developer for The Humane League. His research focuses on digital consciousness, functionalism in the philosophy of mind, AI welfare, and moral uncertainty frameworks; key publications include "Functionalism, integrity, and digital consciousness" (Synthese, 2024), "Bomb threats for functionalists" (Erkenntnis, 2025), and "Initial Results of the Digital Consciousness Model" (arXiv, 2025). He received early grant support to work part time on an academic project evaluating factors relevant to digital consciousness, work that has since expanded into a major research program at Rethink Priorities. He is based in New York City.
Links
- Personal Website
- https://derekshiller.com/
- Twitter / X
- LessWrong
- derek-shiller
Grants
from Long-Term Future Fund
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Details
- Last Updated
- Mar 22, 2026, 3:44 PM UTC
- Created
- Mar 20, 2026, 2:50 AM UTC