Siegel Fellow and computer science PhD student Kenny Peng is developing a "scientific theory of AI" to help us better navigate modern information overload. By looking beyond the standard chatbot, his research envisions new ways for algorithms to empower our curiosity and help us ask the right questions.
Symone Campbell is the In-House Research Fellow at Siegel and an adjunct professor at Howard University’s Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics, where her research focuses on the intersection…
This whitepaper is a codification of a decade of learning. Not as a definitive model, but as one approach that has been useful for us in practice. It includes what we’ve found to work well, where we’ve struggled, and the kinds of tools and structures we’ve used to support an inquiry-driven orientation in grantmaking.
Sohyeon Hwang, PhD is in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow. Sohyeon serves as a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) at Princeton University, where she studies community-based systems of governance in technologies, including decentralized social media and gig work. We sat down with Sohyeon to learn more about her recent work on inter-community governance processes, how she involves communities in her research, and strategies for overcoming some of the frictions that emerge from coordinating across decentralized social media communities.
Alexandra Mateescuis in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow at Data & Society, where she has worked for the last decade. In this Q&A, Alexandra shares her research about the gendered experience of the gig economy; how AI is an extension of existing tools of surveillance and control of workers; and how workers themselves are building power and challenging existing narratives about the promise and peril of technology. We also discuss Alexandra’s new co-authored paperon the underlying dynamics of power, control, and ideology that are shaping AI adoption in the workplace.
Megan Rivera was a 2024-2025 Siegel Research Fellow and is a fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she studies the impact of AI on the labor market and economy, among other topics. We sat down with Megan to learn more about her recent policy brief, how she found her fit working in legislative politics, the potential for integrating worker voice into decision-making around AI, and how the Siegel Research Fellowship helped expand her horizons.
Siegel Family Endowment is proud to announce the 2025–2026 cohort of Siegel Research Fellows. This cohort brings together a group of scholars and practitioners working at the intersections of technology, labor, and governance. Spanning economics, computer science, law, ethnography, public policy, and public interest technology, the fellows are united by a shared focus on power, participation, and accountability in technological systems.
The MIT Quest for Intelligence has been renamed the MIT Siegel Family Quest for Intelligence in recognition of support from David Siegel. SQI’s goal is to understand intelligence — how brains produce it and how it can be replicated in artificial systems to address real-world problems that exceed the capabilities of current AI technologies.
Kylan Rutherford is a Siegel Research Fellow at New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics, where he studies the complex relationship between social media content creators, platform consumers, and the platforms themselves. We sat down with Kylan to learn more about his research on how AI is affecting search, misinformation, and data voids.
Each year, we bring together our Siegel fellow cohort for an annual convening. This year’s convening, which included 14 fellows, was held in New York City in mid-March. The timing of our gathering this year felt significant.
Pegah Moradi is a PhD candidate in Information Science at Cornell University, where she studies the social and organizational dimensions of digital automation, with a focus on its impacts on work and workers.
Ruchika Joshi is a Siegel Research Fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology’s AI Governance Lab, where she develops technically rigorous solutions for industry and government leaders to ensure…