Person attributes
Helen Toner is a technology professional from Australia. She is an expert in security implications that are associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
Toner attended the University of Melbourne in Australia and earned her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 2014. While attending college for her undergraduate degree, she also studied several languages, including Arabic and Mandarin. Toner attended an intensive Mandarin Chinese language training program in Beijing at Tsinghua University in 2018 and earned her master's degree in security studies from Georgetown University in 2021.
After earning her bachelor's degree, Toner started working at AI companies in Australia, including Draftable and Vesparum. In 2015, she joined GiveWell, a charity organization rooted in effective altruism, as a research analyst. In the same year, she joined another effective altruism project, the Open Philanthropy Project, as a research analyst, and a few years later, she earned a promotion to senior research analyst.
In 2018, Toner entered into the academic space as a research affiliate for the Center for the Governance of AI at the University of Oxford. She then took on the role of director of strategy at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. In 2022, Toner became the director of strategy and foundational research grants.
Throughout her career, Toner has also authored and co-authored papers and essays related to AI, ML, data, and safeguards related to those topics. They can be found in publications such as Foreign Affairs magazine. They are also used by various governments as expert testimony regarding the implications of AI in the future at a global scale.
In 2021, Toner was appointed to OpenAI's board of directors. The company stated she had been selected due to her deep expertise in AI policy and strategy research. It also stated that she was appointed to advance its dedication to the deployment of safe technology.
In November 2023, the board of directors at OpenAI initiated a leadership reconfiguration with the departure of the company's CEO, Sam Altman. Following days of outcry from employees at OpenAI regarding the departure, Altman returned as CEO and restructured the board. Toner resigned from the board on November 29, 2023.
