Pioneering researcher in human–AI interaction, cyborg psychology, and bio-digital interfaces joins the MIT faculty to explore the future of human flourishing with technology.

The MIT Media Lab has appointed Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn as Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences starting September 1, 2025. A visionary technologist, scientist, and designer, Pat explores the frontier of human-AI interaction, inventing and investigating AI systems that support human thriving.

A recent PhD graduate from the Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces group, Pat co-directs the Advancing Humans with AI (AHA) Program. His research focuses on how personalized AI systems can amplify human cognition—from learning and decision-making to self-development, reflection, and wellbeing. He developed the "Cyborg Psychology" framework to understand how these systems shape our minds.

Central to his work is designing novel human-AI interfaces that prioritize human agency. Examples include the “Wearable Reasoner,” which prompts critical thinking during decisions; AI systems that use Socratic questioning to cultivate reasoning skills; and "Living Memories," AI-generated virtual characters for personalized learning.

His acclaimed project, Future You, enables interaction with simulations of one’s future self, strengthening long-term thinking. The system is used in over 190 countries and was named one of Fast Company’s 2025 World Changing Ideas.

Pat’s work has appeared in Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Biotechnology, NEJM AI, ACM SIGCHI, SIGGRAPH, IEEE, and more. It has been featured by the UN AI for Good forum, TEDx Boston, The Aspen Institute, The New York Times, BBC, The Atlantic, Forbes, and others.

Bringing "critical optimism" to his work, Pat was among the first to show how AI-generated characters can genuinely enhance learning and wellbeing—while also studying potential risks such as AI addiction, deceptive reasoning, and induced false memories. His approach blends prototyping with randomized-controlled studies to advance ethical AI for personal and societal wellbeing.

My work is about imagining and prototyping the future of human potential with new technology—where machines enhance our humanity rather than dehumanize us into machines.

"My work is about imagining and prototyping the future of human potential with new technology—where machines enhance our humanity rather than dehumanize us into machines," said Dr. Pataranutaporn. “Growing up with Lego Mindstorms—one of the Media Lab's groundbreaking inventions—the Lab has always been my inspiration. It has long championed humanity within our rapidly evolving technological landscape, making it the perfect home to pursue my research. It's both an honor and privilege to join the faculty and help shape what comes next.”

Pat also explores AI through art. In collaboration with Kawita, his series The Machine Ghost in the Human Shell premiered at the Asia Pacific Triennial, examining AI’s influence on identity and meaning. He also worked with Thai choreographer Pichet Klunchun to merge classical Thai dance with cybernetics through virtual avatars, presented in the National Theater and Concert Hall of Taiwan in 2024 and at the 2025 Holland Festival.

His projects have exhibited globally—from the National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome and the National Museum of Singapore to the London Design Festival, Bangkok Art Biennale, the MIT Museum, and Ars Electronica. He co-created Netflix’s Tomorrow and I, a groundbreaking sci-fi anthology which premiered globally in 2024. The series is the first to examine how technological forces reshape society across diverse cultures, drawing from Pat's own Southeast Asian heritage.

"Pat is one of the most imaginative and visionary researchers and artists I have ever encountered,” said Tod Machover, Media Lab Faculty Director. 

His work invites us to dream and to build—at once speculative and scientific, personal and planetary. 

"He perfectly embodies the creative, collaborative, impossible-to-categorize culture of the Media Lab.”

Pat has been awarded fellowships and grants by multiple research agencies and corporations, including NASA, OpenAI, KBTG, and others. Pat also co-designed MIT's first course on AI-generated media in 2020. As a new faculty member, Pat aims to build a research group exploring transformative AI systems that elevate wisdom, cultivate wonder, and foster human wellbeing.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn to the MIT Media Lab faculty.