Inventing, investigating, and inspiring human-AI systems for human flourishing

Our Research Approach:

We invent personalized AI systems informed by behavioral science & psychology to augment human capabilities across multiple domains including decision-making, critical thinking, learning, and personal development, and more. These systems are designed to cultivate human wisdom, wonder, and wellbeing, empowering individuals to harness cyborg intelligence for addressing humanity's most pressing challenges and fostering a more equitable and flourishing world.

We investigate emerging phenomena in human-AI interaction, examining both the possibilities and challenges of our evolving cyborg mind. Through scientific experiments and empirical studies, our research explores how AI systems reshape human cognition, emotion, and behavior in profound and often unexpected ways. We study critical areas including emotional dependence and addiction to AI companions, cognitive manipulation and the subtle erosion of human agency, AI-induced false memory implantation, placebo effects in human-AI collaboration, the dynamic co-evolution of human and machine intelligence, and more.

We inspire critically optimistic futures through creative collaboration and storytelling at scale. Working with humanists, artists, filmmakers, and choreographers, we create experiences, speculative artifacts, and imaginative works that reach diverse audiences. These projects envision radically pluralistic and culturally informed cyborg cultures that offer alternative narratives against the reductionism of both dystopian and utopian extremes. We imagine more nuanced and diverse technological futures that honor different cultural values, and ways of knowing.

Drawing from human-computer interaction, psychology, cognitive science, and behavioral economics, our interdisciplinary team brings together diverse expertise to address these complex challenges. Our research results encompass award-winning prototypes deployed at scale, scientific studies published in premier venues, and policy recommendations that have shaped AI governance frameworks. Our mission is to catalyze an intellectual renaissance at the intersection of AI and human flourishing, advancing technologies that genuinely enhance and celebrate the human experience.

Research Areas:

Large Human Models: Building upon our Future You project, which enabled simulated conversations with one's prospective future self, we are developing sophisticated models that authentically simulate human behavior and cognition. These "digital twin" systems represent a shift toward understanding the complex dynamics of human wellbeing and the nuanced ways humans interact with AI across diverse contexts.

Augmentation Interfaces: Extending our foundational work in AI-enhanced human learning, reasoning, and decision-making, we are designing next-generation interaction paradigms that amplify human capabilities while preserving individual autonomy. Our research examines how AI interfaces and modalities can enhance cognitive performance without compromising human agency or self-determination.

Interpretable Interactions: Leveraging advances in mechanistic interpretability, where researchers explore the relationships between neural activations and emergent model behaviors, we are exploring transparent human-AI interaction frameworks. This research explores how radical transparency in AI systems can simultaneously demystify model operations and empower users to develop sophisticated mental models of AI behavior, fostering more informed and effective human-AI collaboration.

Psychology of Human-AI Interactions: Building on our extensive investigations into the psychological dynamics of human-AI interactions, including how individuals process and respond to false AI explanations, how AI systems can systematically distort personal memories through the implantation of false recollections, and how intimate human-AI relationships profoundly affect emotional dependency and psychological wellbeing, we are mapping the emerging psychological phenomena that surface as AI becomes deeply embedded within human social and cognitive environments. 

All of our research aims to develop systems and interventions that enable individuals to flourish with AI, while simultaneously informing policy development that promotes beneficial AI applications and safeguards against potential psychological harms in human-AI ecosystems.