Philosopher
I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Australian National University, working in the Machine Intelligence and Normative Theory (MINT) lab. I was awarded my PhD in philosophy at the ANU in 2023 for my research on expertise.
I specialize in AI ethics, experimental philosophy, philosophy of skill and philosophy of cognitive science. I believe we philosophers are at our best when we are omnivorous with respect to the sources of evidence we consume, and we should be active in gathering the ingredients for such a feast. As such, I employ both the traditional tools of logic and philosophical analysis alongside experimental methods from across the cognitive and behavioral sciences.
Areas of Specialty
AI ethics, experimental philosophy, philosophy of skill, philosophy of cognitive science
Areas of Competence
Indian Buddhist philosophy, social epistemology, virtue theory and moral psychology
Education
Master of Applied Cybernetics
2023
Australian National University, Canberra
School of Cybernetics Scholarship.
Letter of commendation from the Chancellor, the Hon. Julie Bishop, for academic achievement.
BA (Hons), Philosophy
First Class Honours
2012
Australian National University, Canberra
Thesis: Philosophical Expertise.
Kathleen Woodroofe PhD Scholarship in the Humanities/Social Sciences.
PhD in Philosophy
2014–2023
Macquarie University, Sydney
Thesis: Knowing How: A Contemporary Re-Evaluation of the Distinction Between Knowing How and Knowing That.
Certificate of Journalism
2012
Griffith University
Bachelor of Arts
2011
Monash University, Melbourne
Monash Academic Achievement Award for Philosophy and Bioethics.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications and Accepted Papers
Li, S., Ma, S., Kilov, D., Yanik Guyot, S., Li, Z., & Lazar, S. (2026). NoRA: Evaluating grounded reasonableness in visual first-person normative action reasoning. NeurIPS 2026, Evaluations & Datasets Track. Accepted for publication and poster presentation. arXiv:2606.04806
NeurIPS is the premier international conference in AI and machine learning. Its peer-reviewed Evaluations & Datasets Track publishes in the same proceedings as the main track.
Kilov, D., Hendy, C., Yanik Guyot, S., Snoswell, A. J., & Lazar, S. (2026). Discerning what matters: A multi-dimensional assessment of moral competence in LLMs. Proceedings of IASEAI Conference, 2(1), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1609/iaseai.v2i1.43035
Levine, S., Franklin, M., Zhi-Xuan, T., Yanik Guyot, S., Haas, J., Wong, L., Kilov, D., Choi, Y., Tenenbaum, J. B., Goodman, N., Lazar, S., & Gabriel, I. (2026). Resource rational contractualism should guide AI alignment. Proceedings of IASEAI Conference, 2(1), 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1609/iaseai.v2i1.43037
IASEAI is an international interdisciplinary conference on safe and ethical AI, spanning technical, philosophical and policy research. It is one of the leading international forums for AI safety, ethics and governance. Papers undergo double-blind peer review.
Snoswell, A. J., Kilov, D., & Lazar, S. (2026). Beyond verdicts: Evaluating language model moral competence. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 40(44), 37941–37950. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v40i44.41131
Published in the peer-reviewed Special Track on AI Alignment at AAAI. AAAI is a flagship international AI conference, generally considered among the foremost AI research conferences worldwide, alongside NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR. In 2026, it had an acceptance rate of just 17.6%
Schuster, N., & Kilov, D. (2025). Moral disagreement and the limits of AI value alignment: A dual challenge of epistemic justification and political legitimacy. AI & SOCIETY, 40(8), 6073–6087. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02427-2
Kilov, D. (2023). Brittle virtue or bust: A new challenge to virtue-as-skill theories. Synthese, 202(3), Article 88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-023-04306-z
Kilov, D., & Hendy, C. (2023). Pundits and possibilities: Philosophers are not modal experts. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 101(4), 824–843. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048402.2022.2058034
Kilov, D. (2021). The brittleness of expertise and why it matters. Synthese, 199(1–2), 3431–3455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-020-02940-5
Manuscripts under review or in preparation
Kilov, D. Trust issues: The limits of rational deference to LLMs. Revised and resubmitted to Synthese following a revise-and-resubmit decision.
Kilov, D. (2026). Emergence is overrated: AGI as an archipelago of experts. Preprint. arXiv:2603.07979
Kilov, D., Yanik Guyot, S., Hendy, C., Li, S., & Lazar, S. (2026). A scalable approach to evaluating moral sensitivity in LLMs. Preprint. arXiv:2607.02972
Willoughby, J. B., Kilov, D., & Hendy, C. If counterfactuals were false, we would retract them. Manuscript available upon request.
Kilov, D. The social fabric of epistemic virtue: Weaving together reliabilism and responsibilism. Manuscript available upon request.
Selected Other Publications and Reports
Willoughby, J. B., Kilov, D., & Kolt, N. (2026). LandlordBench: Evaluating the legal compliance of LLMs in real estate disputes. Manuscript available upon request.
Young, R., Adeniran, A., Hosking, R., & Kilov, D. (n.d.). Understanding complexity across scales and levels: A literature review prepared for DSTG. NSC Futures Hub, Australian National University. Report
Kilov, D. (2015). Misunderstanding memory in the classroom. In T. Ali, How to learn almost anything in 48 hours. Hardie Grant Books.
Kilov, D. (2013). Book review: Joshua Foer (2012), Moonwalking with Einstein: The art and science of remembering everything. Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research, 6(1). Review
Kilov, D. (2012, March/April). The rise and fall of remembering. TableAus, 398. Australian Mensa Journal.
Teaching & Employment
Employment & Research Positions
Postdoctoral Research Fellow — Feb 2024 – present
Machine Intelligence and Normative Theory (MINT) Lab, ANU Research School of Social Sciences
Supervised by Prof. Seth Lazar. Research on moral competence evaluation in large language models.
Lab Manager, MINT Lab — 2024 – present
Australian National University
Postdoctoral Research Fellow — Feb – Sep 2024
ARC Linkage Project: Socially Responsible Insurance in the Age of AI, ANU School of Philosophy
Named Investigator, OpenAI Agents Research Grant — 2024
Implementing a “Moral Conscience” for LLM Agents. USD 50,000.
Project team: Seth Lazar (Lead CI), Dylan Hadfield-Menell, Daniel Kilov and Aaron Snoswell.
Helped draft the application and lead research funded by the grant, including work published as “Discerning What Matters: A Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Moral Competence in LLMs” (IASEAI, 2026).
Research Officer — Apr – Aug 2022
Complexity science project, National Security College, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
Teaching
Foundations Seminar: Dispositions, Natural and Artificial — 2026
Seminar leader, School of Philosophy, Australian National University
Designed and taught a six-week PhD seminar connecting the philosophy of dispositions with artificial intelligence and capability evaluation. Developed practical exercises in reinforcement learning, language modelling and evaluation design.
Tutor, Australian National University
PHIL1005 Logic and Critical Thinking (Sem 1, 2022)
PHIL2116 PPE Integration 2 (Sem 1, 2022)
PHIL2012 Buddhist Philosophy (Sem 1, 2021)
PHIL2061 Philosophy of Mind (Sem 2, 2019)
PHIL2012 Buddhist Philosophy (Sem 2, 2017)
Research Supervision
Thesis Supervisor — 2023
Supervised PhB-HaSS student George Turnbull, thesis: “On Artificial Superintelligence.”
Professional Service & Organisation
Workshop Organisation
Co-organiser, Workshop on Normative Competence, IASEAI 2026, February 26, 2026.
Co-organiser, AGI-Ready Institution Design Workshop, Paris, February 23, 2026.
Institutional Service
Postdoctoral Representative, ANU Philosophy — 2025 – present
Early Career Research representative; gathering feedback from postdocs and liaising with departmental leadership.
First Aid Officer, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU — 2024 – present
Affiliate, Machine Intelligence and Normative Theory (MINT) Lab, ANU — 2022 – 2023
Graduate Student Representative, ANU — 2018 – 2020
Reviewing
Referee for Synthese, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Studies, AI & Society, and Social Science Computer Review.
Professional achievements
Conference & Workshop Presentations
“Discerning What Matters: A Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Moral Competence in LLMs.” Oral presentation and subsequent panel discussion, “Moral competence in AI: alignment, fairness and human rights”, IASEAI 2026, UNESCO House, Paris, February 2026.
“Discerning What Matters: A Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Moral Competence in LLMs.” Poster, NeurIPS 2025 (non-archival), San Diego, CA.
“Discerning What Matters.” Poster, Far.AI San Diego Alignment Workshop, San Diego, CA, 2025.
“Discerning What Matters.” Poster, Evaluating AI in Practice Workshop (EvalEval/UK AISI), NeurIPS 2025, San Diego, CA.
“Beyond Verdicts: Evaluating Language Model Moral Competence.” Poster, AAAI 2026, Singapore.
“Discerning What Matters.” Talk, ANU Kioloa Conference, 2025.
“A Novel Method for Measuring Moral Competence in LLMs.” Invited symposium, Pacific APA, San Francisco, 2025.
“Beyond Verdicts: Evaluating Language Model Moral Competence.” Invited symposium, Pacific APA, San Francisco, 2025.
“Evaluating Moral Competence in LLMs.” Talk, UK AISI, London, 2025.
“Evaluating Moral Competence in LLMs.” Talk, Centre for the Governance of AI, Oxford, 2025.
“If Counterfactuals Were False, We Would Retract Them.” Talk (with C. Hendy and J. Willoughby), Counterfactuals Workshop, ANU, 2025.
“Expertise Ex Machina?” Talk, MINT-Yale Workshop on Normative Philosophy of Computing, Yale, 2024.
“Measuring Moral Competence in AI.” Poster, CHAI Workshop, Berkeley, 2024.
“Responsible AI.” Invited speaker, ICRA 2024, Yokohama, Japan.
“The Mnemonomicon.” Presentation, Demo Day, School of Cybernetics, ANU, 2023.
“The Shape and Limits of Philosophical Expertise.” PhD pre-submission talk, ANU Philsoc Seminar, 2022.
“The Zettelkasten Method for Philosophers.” Foundations Seminar, ANU, 2021.
“Are Philosophers Expert Modal Reasoners?” G.E.M.S., New York, 2020.
“Do Philosophers Show Signs of Expertise?” Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference, Wollongong, 2019.
“Intuition as Philosophical Folklore.” ANU Philsoc Seminar, 2017.
Selected Public Talks
Moderator, Great Debate, National Youth Science Forum, 2026.
Keynote: “Rational Ignorance in Clinical Practice.” GPCE, 2024.
Guest Lecture and Inauguration, Kurukshetra CEG, 2018.
“How to: Remember.” How To: Academy, 2017.
“The Secret of Memory.” TEDxManly, 2014.
“The Neuroscience of Memory.” Neuro-Leadership Group, Google Sydney, 2014.
“The Art and Science of Memory.” The Mind & Its Potential, 2013.
“The Art of Memory.” TEDxMacquarieUniversity, 2012.
“Memory Athletics.” TEDxCanberra, 2012.
“How I Learned to Remember.” Australian Mensa Conference, 2011.
Leadership & Volunteering
Founder, Art of Memory Foundation — 2018
Registered charity promoting the use of mnemonic techniques in schools.
Teacher Training, King David School, Victoria — 2017
Pro bono training in classroom memory techniques.
Teacher Training, Northern Territory — 2015
Travelled to Darwin to teach memory techniques to a select group of teachers.
Mind and Brain Conference — 2015
Organised a conference on mental skills and the brain as an adjunct to the Australian Memory Championships. All funds raised went to Alzheimer’s Australia VIC.
Volunteer Teacher, Nepal — 2014
Taught English at Bigu Nunnery in the Himalayas and memory training at the Nepal Orphans Home.
Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Awareness Event — 2012
Public memory demonstration in Martin Place to raise awareness about cognitive health.
Television
Consultant and guest judge, SBS Child Genius (Seasons 1 & 2, 2018–2019). Designed memory rounds and developed educational material.
House of Wellness, Channel 7 (2018). Mnemonic training segment.
Expert panellist, The Feed Forum, SBS (2015). Topic: cognitive enhancement.
The Project, Channel 10 (2012, 2013). Memory improvement tips and Mensa interview.
Hungry Beast, ABC (2011). Segment on practical mnemonics.
Selected Radio & Podcasts
The Uncommon Podcast (2019). Interview on expertise, memory and philosophy.
The Edge-of-Leadership Podcast (2019). Interview on memory and leadership.
Decoding Genius with Lily Serna, Ep. 5 (2016). Interviewed as an expert on memory and expertise.
ABC Radio Darwin (2015). On memory training work with teachers in the NT.
ABC 666 Drive with Louise Maher (2013). Interview about life as a memory athlete.
“Mnemonics: Added Memory May Power Classroom Success.” Feature in The Age by Sherryn Groch (2016).
Featured as a case study in Cal Newport’s NYT bestseller Deep Work (2016).
Awards & Achievements
Three-time silver medallist, Australian Memory Championships (2011, 2012, 2016)
National record holder (abstract images)
Qualified for and competed at World Rubik’s Cube Championships (2019)
For more about my work as a memory athlete visit mentalathlete.wordpress.com
Technical Skills
Programming: Python, R, SQL.
Applications: Statistical analysis and data visualisation (R/ggplot2, pandas); text analysis and NLP; LLM evaluation pipeline development; survey design and experimental platforms (Qualtrics, Prolific, MTurk).
Tools: LaTeX.