AI & Societal Issues
Addressing Natural Disasters and Public Health Challenges
The AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM) brings together researchers in AI and the social sciences to develop human-centric AI that improves how we forecast and respond to natural disasters and public health challenges. The AI-SDM research team is contributing to projects that use causal discovery to improve climate analysis and decision making regarding vaccination and blood donation. In addition, our AI-SDM researchers are developing low-barrier data analysis platforms to improve the study of data science. This effort, funded by the , is driven by faculty in CMU’s Dietrich College and who collaborate with colleagues at other universities, government agencies, NGOs, private companies, community colleges and K-12 schools.
Learn more about AI-SDM
Debunking Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories have long had a grip on the public imagination. While speculating about them can be fun, at times these beliefs have drastic, real-world consequences.
Thomas Costello, an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, has developed DebunkBot, an AI chatbot that dispells conspiracy theories with compelling, reasoned arguments. In 2026, the American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded Costello the for his groundbreaking research.
Understanding the Mind of a Cyber Attacker
Cleotilde Gonzalez, research professor in Dietrich College, pairs AI with cognitive models to understand the psychology of the person behind a cyber attack. Her project is grounded in an AI approach developed more than five decades ago by Herb Simon and John R. Anderson, two CMU faculty members who have taught in the Department of Psychology. Gonzalez’s team has partnered with , an applied research organization that addresses cybersecurity, electronic warfare, mobility, analytics and networking for government and commercial customers worldwide as part of an award from the .
Learn more about the Dynamic Decision-Making Laboratory
Understading Social Dynamics Online and in Real Life
The Institute for Complex Social Dynamics (ICSD) brings together scholars who develop and apply mathematical and computational models to study social phenomena, such as Twitter/X, criminal organizations, modern scientific practice and economic institutions. Current projects explore the role of social networks in how social dynamics unfold; how humans respond to the wisdom of the crowd; and what gives rise to social behaviors that might lead to abrupt social change.
Learn more about the ICSD
Taking a Statistical Approach to Climate Science
STAtistical Methods for the Phsyical Sciences (STAMPS) is one of the first research centers in the country to apply statistics and AI to environmental and climate sciences. By fostering mutually beneficial, sustained collaborations with other research groups, STAMPS promotes trustworthy science that advances the field and influences policy. Their work has tackled weather forecasting, sustainability modeling, and energy grid usage.