Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, AI & Society

Overview

Position Title Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, AI & Society

The Department of AI and Society (AIS) at the University at Buffalo (UB) invites candidates to apply for multiple positions as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor. The AIS department seeks to build AI systems designed to be built by society, for society, and to expand beyond a sole focus on accuracy toward broader societal considerations. A successful candidate is expected to contribute to this vision, thrive in a team environment with a diverse community of students and faculty, and help shape a new department in the field of AI and Society.

Review of applications will begin immediately with start dates in Fall 2025 and beyond; applications will be considered until all positions are filled.

The AIS department seeks to hire interdisciplinary scholars whose research agenda connects AI with humanistic and/or social scientific lines of study, and are open to candidates trained in a wide range of disciplines, including (but not limited to) Social Work, History, Computer Science, Engineering, Public Health, Digital Media and Art, Education, Psychology, Sociology, Geography, Languages and Literatures, etc. We expect a successful applicant to be a transdisciplinary researcher who incorporates insights across AI and the arts, humanities and/or one or more of the social sciences.

We envision successful candidates might include scholars who:

• Use methodologies, theories, and/or concepts from the arts, humanities and/or social sciences to develop new kinds of AI (e.g., new models or new uses of existing models informed by humanistic or social scientific theory).
• Use AI to engage social science questions (e.g., computational social science) or humanistic lines of inquiry (e.g., digital humanities concerned with social change and justice).
• Develop community-driven AI solutions to address societal problems (e.g., participatory-design-based approaches in HCI, Human Factors, and community design scholars).
• Pursue critical work on AI through a social scientific or humanistic lens (e.g., critical algorithm studies or critical artistic work).

These lines of inquiry are not exhaustive, but reflect our belief that
1) AI systems built for society require meaningful analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of existing AI systems,
2) AI can be an important tool in the social sciences, humanities, and arts when used effectively, and
3) attempts to build “AI for social good” that do not involve impacted communities from the start of the design process are likely to fail. Given that AIS is a new department, all faculty members are expected to participate in building the department, including but not limited to:

• Developing a vision for the department and its role in training opportunities and community engagement around AI and society issues;
• Developing department policies and procedures;
• Creating undergraduate and graduate programs, including new courses within the department.

In the steady state, successful candidates will be expected to teach at graduate and undergraduate levels, mentor graduate students, advise students at all levels, and maintain an active research program. Associate Professor or Full Professor candidates should have a record of scholarly accomplishments, teaching experience, and sustained external funding. Successful candidates will work with faculty and experts from multiple fields within the AIS department and/or UB community.

About the Department

The Department of AI and Society (AIS) is the newest department at UB and reports to both the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The department has been supported by New York State to be a center for foundational education and research at the intersection of AI and society. UB is a flagship of the SUNY system and a large, comprehensive university.

The university highlights its breadth across arts, sciences, engineering, and professional programs and notes recent funding initiatives related to AI research and education.

Buffalo is a city with a growing economy, diverse neighborhoods, and a vibrant cultural…