Mellon Foundation awards Emory $1.8 million to expand ethical AI research

The Mellon Foundation has awarded Emory $1.8 million to support the university-based Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI (AIAI) Network, amplifying its efforts to position humanities researchers at the center of conversations about the possibilities and harms of artificial intelligence.

The grant builds on a $1.3 million Mellon award in 2023. That initial funding allowed Emory and research collaborators from Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the DataedX Group to explore ways that Atlanta, with its long history of involvement in movements for social justice, could serve as a site for questions about whether — and, if so, how — AI could be enlisted ethically and equitably.

Public questions about ethical AI use have only grown since then, reinforcing the importance of the AIAI Network’s efforts to make Atlanta and Emory a national model for how humanistic ways of thinking can come together with technical knowledge and community expertise, says Lauren Klein, Winship Distinguished Research Professor of English and Data & Decision Sciences.

“People are really curious about AI,” says Klein, who serves as principal investigator (PI) for the project. “They are justifiably skeptical about the corporate decision-making that is guiding current AI development, but they are interested in figuring out whether the underlying technology is something that could be put to use to positive ends.

“Humanities scholars are experts at identifying how culture and power shape all sorts of new technologies, from the original form of the book to today’s large language models,” she adds. “I think this makes us ideally suited to imagine how these technologies can support people and cultures, or reimagine them, as the case may be.”

Supporting community engagement

Adoption and investment in AI had just begun to accelerate when the AIAI Network launched. The group’s initial work focused on collaborative courses and public programming to develop a shared understanding about the uses and harms of AI, as well as new research that blended humanistic methods with AI and machine learning techniques.

The network also awarded more than $150,000 in seed grants for community projects, including an ethnographic account of gaps in workforce training for Atlanta-based workers displaced by AI automation. Another initiative, this one with the Housing Justice League, created datasets documenting unlawful evictions, which led to a new collaboration with the Atlanta Mayor’s Housing Lab.

Brandeis Marshall, founder and CEO of DataedX, will guide additional collaborations with city government and community groups as AIAI’s community lead.

“Responsible AI governance cannot be designed in isolation from the communities affected by these systems,” Marshall says. “Our work is to bring community knowledge, institutional accountability and technical expertise into the same conversation, so that Atlanta can help demonstrate what equitable and human-centered AI governance looks like in practice.”

“The initial [Mellon] grant gave us a sense of how these systems work, so now we can better engage with local government and expand the organizations we engage with,” says Carl DiSalvo, AIAI’s institutional lead at Georgia Tech and professor in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing.

“This next stage helps us more broadly share our research about what’s possible and potential consequences,” DiSalvo adds. “Our humanistic perspective can bring aspects of culture and lived experience to these conversations that often don’t get included when the conversation is more technology-driven.”

One new network effort is developing AI systems to support local and regional food distribution organizations. The additional Mellon funding will support adaptable systems for organizations to share resources and increase distribution efficiency.

To ensure that this Atlanta-based work can inform national conversations, the new Mellon grant will emphasize media and communications strategy. The funds also cover the continuation of public programming and the addition of a full-time project manager. 

Humanistic AI-focused courses

Community workshops and the AIAI Network Distinguished Speaker Series will continue this fall. Miriam Posner, a historian of technology with UCLA, and media theorist Lisa Nakamura of the University of Michigan are scheduled to visit. (Keep a check on the AIAI Network website for event information as details are finalized)

The network institutions are also planning additional coursework blending humanistic approaches with technical training for the coming year. 

For instance, Clark Atlanta University will offer a class emphasizing data storytelling and critical analysis. At Emory, Klein will pilot a class teaching data science students about the human decisions involved in developing AI models, guiding them through training a large historical language model. At Georgia Tech, André Brock, a professor of Black media studies and a co-PI on the grant, will teach a course addressing the downstream effects of computational technologies on minority communities.

Undergraduate and graduate student researchers will also have opportunities to work on AIAI Network projects, including research with Klein’s Digital Humanities Lab, DiSalvo’s Publics Studio and the Spark Center for Public Design and Technology, and Clark Atlanta’s Center for Africana Digital Humanities.

“The technology isn’t going away. It is expanding, so the work we do must be amplified,” says Charmayne E. Patterson, AIAI’s institutional lead for Clark Atlanta, who serves as director of the Center for Africana Digital Humanities and as associate provost for faculty success at Clark Atlanta.

Patterson adds, “The Mellon funding helps elevate the work we are doing and expand the ways we can support our students, community and scholars to continue engaging in meaningful and diverse work exploring AI’s impact.”