Michael Bernstein

Michael Bernstein is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and a Bass University Fellow. He is a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and Interim Director of the Symbolic Systems Program. His research focuses on designing social computing systems that align with societal values, leveraging insights from human-computer interaction (HCI) to address ethical challenges in AI and platform governance. He holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and M.S./Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT.

Education:

• Bachelor of Science with Honors and Distinction in Symbolic Systems, Stanford University (2006)
• Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT (2008)
• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT (2012)

Research Interests: Michael's work bridges HCI, AI, and sociology to create technologies that foster pro-social interactions. Key areas include AI ethics, crowdsourcing, platform governance, and the societal impacts of algorithms. He emphasizes embedding democratic values into AI systems and designing tools for equitable decision-making.

Professional Contributions:

• Chair of ACM Collective Intelligence (2023)
• Program Committee Chair for UIST 2019
• Co-founder of the Daemo crowdsourcing platform
• Creator of the PlanOut experimentation framework

Awards:

• Computer History Museum's Tech for Humanity Prize (2021, 2023)
• UIST Lasting Impact Award (2020)
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2016)

Labs & Initiatives: Michael co-leads the Stanford Ethics and Society Review (ESR) program, which evaluates ethical implications of AI research. His lab explores generative agents, content moderation tools (e.g., Generative Agents, Cura), and systems for conflict resolution (Rehearsal).