James A. Evans

James A. Evans is the Max Palevsky Professor of Sociology and Data Science at the University of Chicago, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology within the Division of the Social Sciences. He is the director of Knowledge Lab and the Faculty Director of the Masters Program in Computational Social Science. He holds additional affiliations as an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, External Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, and Visiting Faculty Researcher at Google.

• Education:
  • B.A. in Anthropology, Brigham Young University (1994)
  • M.A. in Sociology, Stanford University (1999)
  • Ph.D. in Sociology, Stanford University (2004)

His research centers on the collective system of thinking and knowing, exploring how ideas emerge, spread, and evolve through social and technical systems. He investigates innovation, collective intelligence, and the science of science, using large-scale data modeling, machine learning, generative AI, and network analysis to study knowledge creation. His work spans domains including science, technology, law, and religion, with a focus on how AI is reshaping discovery processes.

The most recent publications highlight trends in AI and scientific discovery, with a strong emphasis on innovation, knowledge systems, and human-machine intelligence. His research increasingly explores AI as a transformative agent in science, including the concept of 'alien intelligence' and the development of complementary AI to augment human capacity. Projects like the $20M NSF-funded APTO initiative aim to build language models that predict technological outcomes by analyzing historical data.

• Scientific Recognition and Funding:
  • Research supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and philanthropic sources
  • Work published in Nature, Science, PNAS, and leading social science journals
  • Featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The Atlantic, Wired, NPR, BBC, Le Monde, and others

James Evans advises on science policy and funding strategies, emphasizing the importance of diversity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and demographic balance in fostering innovation. He critiques current academic incentives and proposes alternative discovery regimes. He leads Knowledge Lab, a collaborative research environment that conducts seminars, grants, and employment opportunities in computational social science and AI.