Critical AI Studies Research Cluster
Interdisciplinary faculty team launches new research cluster focusing on critical approaches to Artificial Intelligence
The Critical AI Studies Research Cluster (CAIR) is an interdisciplinary group of faculty, students, and professionals focused on understanding, mitigating, and adapting to the rapid deployment of AI. Led by Dr. Will Robertson and Dr. Ted Maclin from the Department of Anthropology, this initiative fosters research, pedagogy and curriculum development, planning, and activism to address concerns raised by new AI technologies on campus, in Memphis, and beyond. Faculty from multiple departments bring expertise to help address both predictable and unforseen consequences of rapidy developing and adopting new AI technologies.
CAIR builds on existing strengths at the University to foster academic and community engagement with the social, economic, political, and environmental challenges of AI. We work with with goals of understanding, mitigating, and adapting to new technologies in ways that support social, economic, and environmental justice.
What is critical AI studies?
Critical AI Studies is an emerging interdisciplinary field focused on understanding and addressing the social, political, and material causes and effects of AI. It is not a project in creating more equitable or responsible AI: rather, critical AI scholars question the motives behind the creation and use of AI and how AI interacts with existing social-technical systems. It is critical in the sense of critical theory: it is both empirical and speculative with goals of not only understanding complex issues but also effecting change, particularly redressing conditions of coercion and oppression.
Faculty Team Members:
Dr. Genia Bettancourt, Department of Leadership
Dr. Bradley Dixon, History
Dr. Alison Happel-Parkins, Department of Leadership
Dr. Beck Henriksen, Anthropology
Dr. Kathryn Hicks, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Jiacheng Liu, Department of Communication and Film
Dr. Ted Maclin, Department of Anthropology
Maddy Nase, Anthropology
Ashley Roach-Freiman, Memphis Libraries
Dr. Will Robertson, Department of Anthropology
Brannen Varner, University Libraries
Elizabeth Wilson, CAS/SUAPP Pre-Award Coordinator
For more information or to be added as an affiliate, please email Dr. Robertson or Dr. Maclin.
Research Updates
Dr. Maclin will be presenting on Possession and the Spirit of AI at the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting in New Orleans, Nov. 19-23, 2025.
External Links and Resources
Anna Kornbluh (UI Chicago) - against AI (https://against-a-i.com/)
Critical AI, a new interdisciplinary journal based at Rutgers University’s Center for Cultural Analysis (https://criticalai.org/)
Evgeny Morozov, The AI We Deserve (and commentary): (https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-ai-we-deserve/)