Cybersecurity & Tech

Scaling Laws: Tom Davidson on the Importance of AI Character

Kevin Frazier, Tom Davidson
Friday, June 5, 2026, 4:00 PM
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Tom Davidson joins Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law and a Senior Editor at Lawfare, to discuss AI timelines, explosive economic growth, and the increasingly urgent debate over “AI character” — the behavioral traits and decision-making tendencies embedded into advanced AI systems.

Drawing on Davidson’s recent paper, “The Importance of AI Character,” which he co-authored with Will MacAskill, their conversation explores how the character of future AI systems may influence democratic governance, military conflict, institutional trust, and even the long-run trajectory of civilization. The discussion also examines the key influences on character development and which actors should ultimately play a part in dictating the default values and behaviors of AI models. 

You may also enjoy Tom's article on AI as advisors.

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Kevin Frazier

Kevin Frazier

@kevintfrazier
kevintfrazier.bsky.social
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Kevin Frazier is a senior editor at Lawfare and the Director of the AI Innovation and Law Program at the University of Texas School of Law.
Tom Davidson

Tom Davidson

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Tom Davidson is the author of a series of reports on AI timelines, and whether AI could drive explosive growth. Tom was previously a Senior Research Fellow at Open Philanthropy, a research scientist at the UK Government's AI Security Institute, and a data scientist at a startup. Tom has a first-class masters degree in physics and philosophy from the University of Oxford.
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