Edward Hughes is a scientific leader in the field of AI with a particular focus on open-ended knowledge discovery. Most recently, he co-led the AI Scientist team at Google DeepMind, wrote the final implementation of the Genie 1 world model, pioneered cultural evolution among LLMs, and contributed to AlphaProof.

Over the past decade, Edward’s teams have spearheaded fast adaptation in reinforcement learning, the paradigm of Cooperative AI, and ad-hoc collaboration between machines and humans. He draws inspiration from diverse sources, including ethics, cultural evolution, social psychology, economics, organisational design, and meta-learning.

Edward is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, an Advisor to the Cooperative AI Foundation, and a PIBBSS mentor. He was previously a Staff Research Scientist and a Staff Research Engineer at Google DeepMind. He received his PhD in Theoretical Physics from Queen Mary University of London on applications of string theory to particle scattering.

Edward’s publications are available on Google Scholar.

Edward Hughes is cofounder-conductor of the Godwine Choir, with whom he has recorded on the EM Records label and toured in the UK and abroad. His interests include English choral music of the early 20th century. He regularly programmes music by contemporary composers.

Edward started his musical career as a choral scholar at St. Catharine’s College under Edward Wickham. He was principal oboist of the Cambridge University Music Society orchestra, and went on to direct the University of Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra. He was formerly Director of Music at Hornsey Parish Church, London and at Holy Trinity, Hereford. Edward has studied conducting with Paul Spicer and Patrick Allies and voice with Robert Rice.

Edward’s recordings (Dream Tryst, Alpha & Omega) are available on Amazon.