Jonathan Shock

Jonathan Shock is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at UCT, Adjunct Professor at INRS Montreal, Interim Director of the UCT AI Initiative, and Co-Principal Investigator of the African Hub on AI Safety, Peace and Security, alongside Rachel Adams. The Hub is Africa's first initiative of its kind, addressing the real-world risks, harms, and opportunities of AI through an African lens, and works to advance research on AI safety and governance, build local capacity through interdisciplinary training and mentorship, and ensure African priorities shape global AI safety frameworks. Jonathan comes from a background in theoretical physics, and his research today spans foundational and applied machine learning across biology, physics, chemistry, psychology, natural language processing, and AI safety.

Email: ai@uct.ac.za