S. Craig Watkins

Watkins’ works translates research-driven knowledge into critical and creative engagement with a media, tech, and AI-driven world that grows more influential everyday. As the founding director of the Institute for Media Innovation and the director of UT’s Good Systems Racial Justice Research Focus Area (RFA), Watkins explores the implications of ethical artificial intelligence, pursuing projects that study how racial and cultural differences influence the use of artificial intelligence devices or develop chatbots for use by people with limited access to mental health services. Through the RFA, he also explores ways that algorithmic fairness can be built into the automated decision making systems that allocate critical resources and services to citizens and consumers.