Why AI Needs Behavioral Science
Behavioral AI
Behavioral AI Lab began as an initiative called Safety by Design Lab, created to explore how behavioral science could help build safer and more trustworthy digital products.
During this time, I expanded these ideas through my Harvard Business Review article, Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation, and shared them at the United Nations Headquarters and other international forums focused on AI, digital safety, and technology governance.
My academic background in economics and behavioral science—including postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)—has shaped how I approach AI: not simply as a technical system, but as one deeply influenced by human judgment, decision-making, and behavior.
Questions That Led to the Change
As I continued this work, I realized that many of the questions I wanted to answer extended beyond safety alone.
They were fundamentally about people—and how they interact with AI.
How do people decide whether to trust AI?
How can behavioral science improve AI adoption and real-world outcomes?
How do we design systems that are not only safer, but also aligned with how people actually think, decide, and behave?
These questions gradually revealed a broader mission: understanding the human side of AI.
Introducing Behavioral AI Lab
These questions led to a simple realization: AI is ultimately a human system.
That is why I renamed the initiative from Safety by Design Lab to Behavioral AI Lab.
Behavioral AI Lab explores the intersection of AI and behavioral science, with a focus on understanding how people interact with AI and how behavioral insights can improve real-world outcomes.
Our mission is to help organizations build AI systems that are safer, more trustworthy, easier to adopt, and better aligned with how people think, decide, and behave.
Through research, advisory work, and cross-sector collaboration, Behavioral AI Lab advances behavioral approaches to AI safety, human-centered AI design, AI adoption, and the evaluation of human-AI interactions.
A New Chapter in San Francisco
Building Behavioral AI Lab from San Francisco represents more than a change in location. It places the initiative at the heart of one of the world's leading AI ecosystems, creating new opportunities for research, collaboration, and real-world impact.
As Behavioral AI Lab continues to grow, I look forward to working with researchers, technology companies, policymakers, and organizations that share a commitment to building AI systems that are safer, more trustworthy, and more human-centered.
This is only the beginning. I'm excited to share new research, insights, and collaborations as Behavioral AI Lab continues to evolve.
If you're interested in collaborating, I'd love to connect.
BLOG & INSIGHTS
Exploring the Human Side
of Artificial Intelligence.
Why AI Needs Behavioral Science
Behavioral AI
Behavioral AI Lab began as an initiative called Safety by Design Lab, created to explore how behavioral science could help build safer and more trustworthy digital products.
During this time, I expanded these ideas through my Harvard Business Review article, Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation, and shared them at the United Nations Headquarters and other international forums focused on AI, digital safety, and technology governance.
My academic background in economics and behavioral science—including postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)—has shaped how I approach AI: not simply as a technical system, but as one deeply influenced by human judgment, decision-making, and behavior.
Questions That Led to the Change
As I continued this work, I realized that many of the questions I wanted to answer extended beyond safety alone.
They were fundamentally about people—and how they interact with AI.
How do people decide whether to trust AI?
How can behavioral science improve AI adoption and real-world outcomes?
How do we design systems that are not only safer, but also aligned with how people actually think, decide, and behave?
These questions gradually revealed a broader mission: understanding the human side of AI.
Introducing Behavioral AI Lab
These questions led to a simple realization: AI is ultimately a human system.
That is why I renamed the initiative from Safety by Design Lab to Behavioral AI Lab.
Behavioral AI Lab explores the intersection of AI and behavioral science, with a focus on understanding how people interact with AI and how behavioral insights can improve real-world outcomes.
Our mission is to help organizations build AI systems that are safer, more trustworthy, easier to adopt, and better aligned with how people think, decide, and behave.
Through research, advisory work, and cross-sector collaboration, Behavioral AI Lab advances behavioral approaches to AI safety, human-centered AI design, AI adoption, and the evaluation of human-AI interactions.
A New Chapter in San Francisco
Building Behavioral AI Lab from San Francisco represents more than a change in location. It places the initiative at the heart of one of the world's leading AI ecosystems, creating new opportunities for research, collaboration, and real-world impact.
As Behavioral AI Lab continues to grow, I look forward to working with researchers, technology companies, policymakers, and organizations that share a commitment to building AI systems that are safer, more trustworthy, and more human-centered.
This is only the beginning. I'm excited to share new research, insights, and collaborations as Behavioral AI Lab continues to evolve.
If you're interested in collaborating, I'd love to connect.
BLOG & INSIGHTS