About the researcher

Megan Tobias Neely, Assistant Professor, Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School.

Megan Tobias Neely’ previous research has focused on workplace and economic inequality. She thus explores how gender, race and social class impact access to earnings and capital in top US industries. Her book ‘Hedged Out’ delves into the secretive world of hedge funds, questioning wealth concentration and advocating for a Wall Street reform. She is the co-author of the book ‘Divested’, which reveals the role of big finance in exacerbating US inequality. She holds a PhD from the University of Texas and is a faculty affiliate of Stanford University’s Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab. She is currently researching inequality in Silicon Valley's venture capital and tech startup scene.

About Sapere Aude

Sapere Aude means ‘Dare to know’

The DFF-Starting Grant is given to talented young researchers to lead a research project at a high international level.

The grant enables them to develop and delve into their own research ideas and build their own research team.

Additionally, the aim of Sapere Aude is to promote mobility among research environments, nationally as well as internationally.

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

Assistant Professor Megan Tobias Neely at CBS has just received one of the coveted Sapere Aude grants. She wishes to understand the scientists behind AI technology, enhancing our understanding of how AI will impact our collective future.

06/20/2024

Megan Tobias Neely. Assistant Professor in the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School

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

The page was last edited by: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 06/20/2024