AI Research & Discovery at KU

The University of Kansas brings together researchers, educators, and clinicians to pursue impactful artificial intelligence research that connects technical innovation with real world needs. Across the university, interdisciplinary teams are advancing AI that improves learning, supports accessibility, strengthens healthcare, and informs how emerging technologies are designed and governed. KU’s approach emphasizes human centered design, responsible use, and translating research into practice—reflecting strengths built over years of applied, collaborative work.

Education & Inclusive Innovation

KU has built strong national momentum at the intersection of AI, learning sciences, and accessibility.

Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI)

AAI serves as a central home for many of KU’s AI enabled education and learning science initiatives, supporting applied research, large scale evaluation, and partnerships with schools and communities.

Examples of AI enabled education and learning science work include:

ATLAS (Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems)
- Develops AI driven and adaptive assessment systems that support accessibility and improve how learning is measured for students with diverse needs.
CIDDL (Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning)
- Advances research and guidance on the use of AI and educational technology in special education, educator preparation, and professional learning.
FLITE (Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology & Education)
- Explores innovative and emerging uses of AI to design and study next generation digital learning environments and instructional practices.
Center for Research on Learning (CRL)
- Applies AI enabled approaches to strengthen writing, literacy, and social skill development through evidence based educational interventions and adaptive feedback.

Ethics, Security & Social Dynamics

KU Researchers are actively engaged in examining how AI and data-driven technologies shape society and how they can be developed and used responsibly.

Center for Cyber Social Dynamic (CCSD): Located within the Institute for Information Sciences, CCSD studies how AI and internet technologies influence human behavior, culture, and online safety.

STEP Lab (Society, Technology, Ethics, and Philosophy Lab) A research lab within CCSD that bring philosophical and ethical perspectives to AI research, helping inform responsible design, governance, and public understanding of emerging technologies.

Precision Medicine & Health AI

At the KU Medical Center, AI research is contributing to more reliable, interpretable, and clinically meaningful tools for healthcare and biomedical discovery.

Artificial Intelligence Resource Center (AIRC)

AIRC serves as the collaborative hub for AI research and coordination at KU Medical Center, supporting clinical, biomedical, and data-insensitive initiatives.

RIMI Lab (Reliable Intelligence & Medical Innovation)
- Advances "Reliable AI" methods and applies them to challenges such as cancer imaging. immunotherapy response prediction, and Alzheimer's disease research.

Interdisciplinary AI

AI research at KU is supported by cross-cutting technical expertise and research infrastructure across engineering, computer science, and information sciences, as well as contributions from the humanities, social sciences, and professional disciplines.

Together, these efforts reflect KU's growing presence in applied and interdisciplinary AI research and its connection to education, health, and the public good.