Olaf Witkowski, Ph.D.

Olaf Witkowski, Ph.D., is Director of Cross Labs (Cross Compass AI), President of the International Society for Artificial Life, and Founder of the Artificial Life Institute. He holds appointments as Lecturer at Ritsumeikan University and the University of Tokyo, Research Scientist at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, External Faculty at Henkaku Center (Chiba Institute of Technology), Visiting Faculty at CHAIN (Hokkaido University), and Alumnus Member at the Institute for Advanced Study. His research focuses on the companionship paradigm and the architecture of safe AI societies, exploring how to build healthy, trustworthy systems where humans and AI co-create the institutions that govern both. In Olaf's own words on why he joined the AI Safety Crisis Summit: “Beyond merely aligning individual models, AI safety is about learning to build healthy, trustworthy societies with AI as part of them. I joined the AI Safety Crisis Summit because Better Societies takes that relational view seriously: treating safety as something we co-create across humans, AI systems, and the institutions that govern both. That collective frame is exactly what the field needs right now.”