AI Research at CMU: Building 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 and NVIDIA to Lead Joint Research Center for Robotics, Autonomy & AI(opens in new window)
Carnegie Mellon University has partnered with NVIDIA and the University of Pittsburgh to establish the NVIDIA AI Tech Community in Pittsburgh, advancing innovation in robotics, autonomy, and AI. This collaboration includes two new joint research centers, with CMU focusing on robotics and autonomy, enabling researchers to leverage NVIDIA’s AI expertise and technology. The initiative will support local startups, enhance AI development across sectors, and position Pittsburgh as a leader in responsible AI innovation.
Researchers Develop First AI-enabled Wearable to Detect Drug Errors(opens in new window)
CMU researchers have developed the first AI-powered wearable camera to detect medication errors, aiming to improve patient safety in hospitals. The device alerts healthcare professionals to potential mistakes in real time, enhancing accuracy during drug administration. This innovative technology could significantly reduce error rates during drug administration under stressful situations, underscoring CMU’s role in advancing AI applications in healthcare.
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.
Decades Ahead of the Curve
Groundbreaking work by university researchers has empowered CMU to define computer science and AI since its inception. Key milestones include launching the first U.S. university robotics institute in 1979 and creating the world’s first dedicated computer science college in 1988, fostering innovations in machine learning and technologies like autonomous vehicles.
History of AI at CMU
Paving the Path of AI for Science
Combining human expertise with advanced AI and automated laboratories, CMU accelerates scientific discovery and innovation. Remote-controlled, high-throughput automated labs enhance research efficiency, allowing scientists to focus on creative analysis and strategy, fostering transformative collaborations and leveraging AI to make groundbreaking discoveries.
AI for Science
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.
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.
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.
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.
Language technologies Institute(opens in new window)
The Language Technologies Institute (LTI), Carnegie Mellon’s hub for advancing language and AI research, is committed to shaping the future of human-computer interaction through language. With a diverse team of experts spanning fields from computational linguistics and machine learning to data science and cognitive psychology, LTI works to create systems that understand, interpret, and communicate with the world.
Many more centers and institutes at CMU touch on artificial intelligence. Learn more about them below:
Arts Management & Technology Lab(opens in new window)
The Center for Data-Driven Design of Multifunctional Material Systems (D3OM2S)(opens in new window)
Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation (CTTEC)(opens in new window)
Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology(opens in new window)
Carnegie Bosch Institute(opens in new window)
Catalyst Research Group(opens in new window)
Code Lab(opens in new window)
CMU Database Group(opens in new window)
Data Science for Social Good(opens in new window)
Digital Transformation and Innovation Center(opens in new window)
Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation(opens in new window)
Information Networking Institute(opens in new window)
Initiative for Teaching & Education Analytics(opens in new window)
Human+AI Design Initiative(opens in new window)
Human Computer Interaction Institute(opens in new window)
K&L Gates Initiative in Ethics and Computational Technologies(opens in new window)
Manufacturing Futures Institute(opens in new window)
Neuroscience Institute(opens in new window)
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center(opens in new window)
SAILING Lab(opens in new window)
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship(opens in new window)