Welcome

I am a development economist, researching the societal impacts of transformative AI at Google DeepMind. In the rest of my time, I'm completing my DPhil in the economics department at the University of Oxford. My work there focuses on public and welfare economics.

I really like working with ambitious governments and firms in poor countries. In The Gambia, I'm working with a large city councilAlongside Justine Knebelmann and Victor Pouliquen, supported by the great Cebbina Lee. to improve their tax systems and public services. I also work with Africell,Alongside Johanna Barop. a large and growing African telco, on AI products for customers without smartphones.

Before starting my PhD, I consulted on technology policy and financing in the space industry;I worked as an aerospace economist for Bryce Space and Technology, where I researched telecommunications satellites, earth observation satellites, and rockets. before that, I lived in Sierra Leone, running research programs on energy and health economics; before that, I drove ambulances in Maryland. I worked with Prof. S.P. Harish and his teams in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh in 2018. Research on small firm productivity and vaccinations took me to Afghanistan several times between 2018-2020.⊕
Thanks to my friends and colleagues at Team Afghan Power, there is a solar system in Afghanistan named after me.

Check out what I'm up to this month, or get updates. I like talking to people. Send me an email at jablevine@gmail.com.