AI Safety Colombia

Seminar on the Future and Risks of AI

Advanced AI is moving faster than the people ready to think about it. Five weeks to understand who is building it, how fast it is moving and what could go wrong. From any discipline.

12 October to 15 November 2026. Places are limited: apply by 9 October.

Advanced AI is moving faster than the people prepared to think about it

The labs building the most capable models say openly that they want to reach AGI, and the decisions about how that technology gets deployed are being made now, with very few people in Colombia who understand what is being built and what could go wrong. Almost nobody gets that understanding from their degree: you get it by reading, discussing, and forming your own view.

The Seminar on the Future and Risks of AI is an in-depth introduction to what is happening in AI development: who is building it, what drives progress, what the good and bad outcomes could be, and what can be done to steer it towards better futures. The readings were designed by BlueDot Impact; AI Safety Colombia runs this cohort independently, with facilitators from the community.

Would you rather take it online and in English? Apply directly with BlueDot.

For people who take the topic seriously and don't yet know where to start

No technical background is needed. The seminar is designed for people who already have a career or a degree and want to point it at this problem:

  • Policy, law and governance

    You work or study in public policy, law, international relations or security and want to understand the technology you will regulate or advise on.

  • Engineering and data science

    You build or research with models and want the strategic picture before choosing which safety problem to work on.

  • Academia and research

    You do research in economics, philosophy, social science or computer science and want to know where your field connects to this problem.

  • People new to the topic

    You come from another area, have read on your own, and want to move from reading to doing.

If you're not sure you fit, apply anyway: we'd rather have one too many than miss yours.

If you're more interested in the technical side (interpretability, evaluations, alignment research), see the Technical AI Safety Seminar.

A small cohort that discusses every week

Each week starts with an hour of light material (videos and podcasts) and continues with one two-hour session with your cohort: close reading and discussion. That is about three hours a week, at a time set with the selected participants. All readings and videos are in English, as BlueDot publishes them; the discussion is in Spanish. The format is mixed: some sessions are in person at Universidad de los Andes and some are online, and it fits alongside a job or university. The in-person sessions come with free food.

The facilitator is Tomás Antolinez (Universidad de los Andes). The cohort deliberately mixes people from different disciplines: the discussion is where the readings turn into a view of your own, and the cohort stays on as a community of peers to keep exploring the field with after the seminar.

Five weeks, from the map of the race to your next step

Each week: an hour of light material and one two-hour session, close reading and discussion. Sessions alternate: the first week is in person, the second online, and so on to the end. Session times are set around the availability of the selected participants.

  1. Week 1In person

    The race to AGI

    What AGI is, who is building it, and why there's a race to get there first.

  2. Week 2Online

    What drives progress

    Compute, data and algorithms, and how far that trend could go.

  3. Week 3In person

    The threat landscape

    Loss of control, concentration of power, and biological weapons: how likely each one is and what would make it more or less severe.

  4. Week 4Online

    Defence in depth

    Preventing dangerous systems from being trained, constraining what they can do, and withstanding what they do: the layers of defence and who works on each.

  5. Week 5In person

    How to start contributing

    Which problem is yours, with which skills, and what your concrete next step is.

See the full curriculum on BlueDot

A view of your own, a map, and a next step

  • A view of your own on which threats matter most and why.

  • A map of the defences that exist today and who works on each one.

  • A concrete next step: which problem is yours, with which skills, and what to do over the next few months.

  • A cohort of people in Colombia thinking about the same thing, and an AI Safety Colombia certificate.

Applications have closed

Applications for this cohort closed on Friday 9 October.

Frequently asked questions

  • Is it a seminar for beginners?

    It's for people new to working on AI safety, not new to thinking hard. If you've been reading and thinking about the topic and want to start doing something, this is where you start.

  • What if I don't know which direction I want to take?

    That's what the seminar is for. You leave with a view on which problems matter most and which path fits your skills: technical research, governance, biosecurity, or building something new.

  • Is there a selection process, or does everyone who applies get in?

    There is a selection process: places are limited. We read every application and choose based on what you write and how well you fit the profile this page describes. We let everyone know, accepted or not, before the cohort starts.

  • When are the sessions?

    The time is set with the selected participants: before the start we ask which slots work for them and fix the one that suits the cohort best.

  • What language is it in?

    The discussions are in Spanish. All readings, videos and podcasts are in English, as BlueDot Impact publishes them, so you need to read English comfortably.

  • What do I need to receive the certificate?

    Attend the discussion sessions: you can miss at most one. It's the same rule BlueDot Impact uses in its cohorts. The certificate is issued by AI Safety Colombia for completing the seminar, based on the BlueDot Impact curriculum.

  • How is this related to BlueDot Impact?

    BlueDot Impact designed the curriculum and publishes its materials. AI Safety Colombia runs this cohort independently, with those materials and with facilitators from the community.