Who are the minds behind AI? Megan Tobias Neely is awarded the prestigious Sapere Aude grant to find the answer

Photo credit: the Independent Research Fund Denmark

Artificial intelligence has revolutionised society in both positive and negative ways, yet the scientists behind this technology remain a mystery. Who are they? What backgrounds, values and working methods shape their work and how does this affect the technology we all encounter on a daily basis?

Questions like these are the focus of a new research project at CBS with Megan Tobias Neely, Assistant Professor at the Department of Organization, as the principal investigator.

She is one of 38 research leaders to receive the prestigious Sapere Aude grant worth around DKK 6 million from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, a grant that enables them to develop and enhance their research ideas and leadership competences.

The people behind AI

To understand how AI affects our society, it is important to understand the people who create the technology. Their interests and everyday work play a central role in how AI is developed and thus in how AI will impact our collective future

- Megan Tobias Neely, Assistant Professor at the Department of Organization

The research project titled ‘Building Research on Artificial Intelligence (BRAIN)’ aims to study how the composition of employees and their everyday work affect the AI technology they create and how it impacts society. The project integrates studies of workplace culture with advanced computational methods to analyse a leading company in generative AI. The results will have great impact on current debates on whether AI will improve our professional lives or take our jobs, says Megan Tobias Neely:

“AI is a topic that has been both sensationalised and scrutinised in the media. But we rarely hear from the people who care about this topic the most:  the AI scientists themselves. To understand how AI affects our society, it is important to understand the people who create the technology. Their interests and everyday work play a central role in how AI is developed and thus in how AI will impact our collective future.”

This four-year project allows Megan Tobias Neely to assemble a team of two postdocs specialising in these approaches.

“I’m grateful and thrilled to be granted this incredible opportunity to lead a team in studying this important topic,” Megan Tobias Neely concludes.

Further reading: Megan Tobias Neely receives CBS Research Dissemination Award for shedding light on inequality on Wall Street