Internet, Technology, and AI Research
The march of technology is relentless, and advancing faster than ever. Nearly every part of our daily existence is mediated by technology—how we communicate, socialize, learn, work, shop, and access medical care. Meanwhile, rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) promise to upend numerous sectors of society and possibly threaten people's livelihoods.
With these changes come many critical questions and challenges. At UMass Amherst, researchers across diverse disciplines are working to stay ahead of the curve. Computer scientists and engineers are developing the software and hardware to drive these technological advances; scientists are harnessing technology like AI and quantum computing to probe vital scientific questions; while social scientists and humanists are exploring the effects of technology on our society and ourselves.
Since the field’s earliest days, UMass Amherst has been on the leading edge of reinforcement learning, a branch of AI which is now poised to disrupt numerous sectors of society. UMass computer scientist Andrew Barto and his former graduate student Richard Sutton were recently awarded the highly prestigious Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery for their pioneering work in this field.
A Revolution in Computer Hardware
UMass Amherst electrical and computer engineer Qiangfei Xia is developing memristor-based hardware technology with the potential to advance AI while dramatically reducing energy usage and costs.
Investigating AI and Technology for Good in Education
Torrey Trust’s research on teaching, learning, and technology is shared with educators around the world to improve student learning and encourage the design of more accessible and inclusive learning environments.
A Global View of Tech and Society
The Global Technology for Social Justice (GloTech) Lab at UMass Amherst fosters research and dialogue on critical technology studies that go "beyond borders, bits, and biases."
Envisioning a Better Digital World
The Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure (iDPI) at UMass Amherst leads research on the civic and social role of internet platforms as well as reimagines social media for the public good.
Studying the Evolution of Social Media Communities
Jasmine Mangat ’23 is a computer science and economics major at UMass Amherst who has carried out original research examining how communities, known as subreddits, evolve on the popular social media platform Reddit.
Uncovering Human Stories Behind Online Disinformation
UMass Amherst Associate Professor Jonathan Corpus Ong, one of the country’s leading scholars of online disinformation, goes behind the scenes of the business of fake news production.