Patrick Lin, PhD

AURELIA FELLOW

Patrick Lin, PhD, is the director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group, based at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he is a philosophy professor. He also currently serves on the US National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group and is affiliated with Stanford Law School, Czech Academy of Sciences, World Economic Forum, and other leading orgs. Previous affiliations include the 100-Year Study on AI, Stanford Engineering, US Naval Academy, Dartmouth College, University of Notre Dame, University of Iceland (Fulbright), Center for a New American Security, New America Foundation, UNIDIR, and others.  

He is well published in technology ethics—including on frontier development (esp. outer space and the Arctic), AI, robotics, cybersecurity, bioengineering, nanotechnology, security technologies, and more—and is regularly invited to provide briefings on the subject to industry, media, and government.

Currently, Dr. Lin is the principal investigator on two ethics projects funded by the US National Science Foundation, one on outer space cybersecurity (SaTC program) and the other on AI and robot ethics (NRI 3.0 program). He earned his BA in philosophy from UC Berkeley and PhD from UC Santa Barbara, with a background in the biosciences.