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Student playing poker against AI at the first AI vs Human Power Challenge.

We Build Systems That Matter

AI at CMU stems from a long history of pioneering problem-solving and a legacy of making big bets in the power of computation and data. We have spent decades creating and improving technologies that observe and react to the world around them. Today, the decades of research behind us power our pursuit of one goal: driving AI research and policy impact to solve real-world problems for broad societal benefit.

CMU researchers regularly lend their expertise to policymakers(opens in new window) on the responsible and trustworthy use of AI. CMU experts have briefed leaders and staff from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy(opens in new window), numerous House and Senate committees, the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, lending insights on the current state of AI research and development, as well as efforts to prepare the U.S. workforce for AI integration(opens in new window).

Distinguished Career Professor Rayid Ghani talks about how artificial intelligence can create fear and distrust and the benefits of AI if handled properly.

View More on CMU's AI Video Playlist(opens in new window)

CMU is Deep-Rooted in AI

AI in Society and Workforce

Even as we break new ground, we recognize the importance of bringing interdisciplinary teams together to explore the impact of this technology. At CMU, scientists and engineers work together with philosophers, artists and economists to discover what might be possible, while ethicists, social scientists and policy experts guide our path. The university-wide Block Center for Technology and Society(opens in new window) is a hub for this work, and is engaged in three primary focus areas: how emerging technologies will alter the future of work, how AI and analytics can be harnessed for social good, and how innovation in these spaces can be more inclusive and improve quality of life for all.

Transforming Science

The future of science is being driven by powerful AI technologies that are essential to the analysis, connection and application of massive data streams. At CMU, we are leading the science revolution by bringing our strengths in computational methods to scientific discovery and inquiry. The birthplace of cognitive psychology, CMU has built on our legacy in brain science through our Neuroscience Institute(opens in new window), where neuroscientists, psychologists, statisticians, computer scientists and engineers drive new breakthroughs. We are also the first academic institution to launch a cloud lab(opens in new window) for artificial intelligence-driven experimentation, revolutionizing academic laboratory research.

AI in Education

Named for the founding father of AI, Herbert Simon, the Simon Initiative(opens in new window) harnesses a cross-disciplinary, learning-engineering ecosystem developed over several decades at CMU with the goal of measurably improving student learning outcomes. Simon Initiative researchers incorporate AI in educational technology like cognitive tutors and courseware that iteratively improves learning and teaching from kindergarten to graduate school.  At CMU, the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation(opens in new window) provides a blueprint for incorporating AI in the classroom.

Key AI-Focused Centers & Institutes

CMU’s efforts in AI is embedded across the university in many ways. Explore a representation of some of the important work happening here:

AI Institute for Societal Decision Making(opens in new window)

Funded by the NSF(opens in new window), the AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM) brings together AI and social sciences researchers to improve the response to societal challenges like disaster management and public health by creating human-centric AI tools to assist with critical decisions.

Block Center for Technology and Society(opens in new window)

The Block Center, funded by Keith Block and Suzanne Kelley(opens in new window), seeks out results-oriented projects that align with three focus areas: how emerging technologies will alter the future of work(opens in new window), how AI and analytics can be used responsibly(opens in new window), and how innovation(opens in new window) in these spaces can be more inclusive and improve quality of life for all. Then it supports work that shows the greatest promise for delivering actionable policy impact.

Center for Intelligent Business(opens in new window)

The Center for Intelligent Business is a new, multidisciplinary center at Carnegie Mellon University. Its mission is to enable AI for intelligent augmentation of business, or “AI for IA”. By leveraging our strengths in Management Science and integrating cutting-edge behavioral science  by leveraging new data and analytical capabilities, we are reimagining a new era  for Management Science 2.0.

Delphi Research Group(opens in new window)

The Delphi Research Group was founded in 2012 to develop the theory and practice of epidemiological tracking and pioneer forecasting techniques to make the technology as universally accepted and useful as weather forecasting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the group gathered data daily to help steer policy and public health decisions and change the future of disease and outbreak forecasting. In 2023, the CDC selected the Delphi Research Group as the Center for Innovation in Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling(opens in new window).

Robotics Institute(opens in new window)

The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University was established in 1979 to conduct basic and applied research in robotics technologies relevant to industrial and societal tasks. Seeking to combine the practical and the theoretical, the Robotics Institute has diversified its efforts and approaches to robotics science while retaining its original goal of realizing the potential of the robotics field.

The Center for Quantum Computing and Information Technologies(opens in new window)

An NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, the Center for Quantum Computing and Information Technologies brings together an industry consortium, government laboratories, faculty and students to solve practical problems, bridging the gap between quantum hardware and industry applications. The computing testbed researches algorithms used for materials simulations, drug discovery, industrial process optimization and quantum machine learning.

CyLab(opens in new window)

CyLab, the university’s security and privacy research institute, is dedicated to creating a world where technology can be trusted. With a deep and diverse bench of faculty scholars — with expertise from engineering and computer science to financial information risk management and the humanities — CyLab crosses academic boundaries to study the human factors required to get security and privacy right.

Software Engineering Institute(opens in new window)

The Software Engineering Institute’s AI Division(opens in new window) addresses the need for leap-ahead AI capabilities that are reliable, responsible, safe, fair and transparent. Through research in applied artificial intelligence with a focus on AI Engineering, the SEI AI Division addresses questions related to the practical design and implementation of AI for defense and national security. 

Many more centers and institutes at CMU touch on artificial intelligence. Learn more about them below: