As humans and technology become increasingly integrated at both personal and societal levels, we are essentially evolving into "cyborgs," yet this transformation does not inherently ensure positive outcomes for humanity. The Cyborg Psychology research group at the MIT Media Lab addresses this timely and timeless challenge through inventing, investigating, and inspiring next-generation human-AI systems for human flourishing. We explore mind shaped by machine, mind made in machine, and minds merged with machine.

Our Research Approach:

We invent personalized AI systems informed by behavioral science & psychology to augment human capabilities across multiple domains including decision-making, critical thinking, learning, and personal development, and more. These systems are designed to cultivate human wisdom, wonder, and wellbeing, empowering individuals to harness cyborg intelligence for addressing humanity's most pressing challenges and fostering a more equitable and flourishing world.

We investigate emerging phenomena in human-AI interaction, examining both the possibilities and challenges of our evolving cyborg mind. Through scientific experiments and empirical studies, our research explores how AI systems reshape human cognition, emotion, and behavior in profound and often unexpected ways. We study critical areas including emotional dependence and addiction to AI companions, cognitive manipulation and the subtle erosion of human agency, AI-induced false memory implantation, placebo effects in human-AI collaboration, the dynamic co-evolution of human and machine intelligence, and more.

We inspire critically optimistic futures through creative collaboration and storytelling at scale. Working with humanists, artists, filmmakers, and choreographers, we create experiences, speculative artifacts, and imaginative works that reach diverse audiences. These projects envision radically pluralistic and culturally informed cyborg cultures that offer alternative narratives against the reductionism of both dystopian and utopian extremes. We imagine more nuanced and diverse technological futures that honor different cultural values, and ways of knowing.

Drawing from human-computer interaction, psychology, cognitive science, and behavioral economics, our interdisciplinary team brings together diverse expertise to address these complex challenges. Our research results encompass award-winning prototypes deployed at scale, scientific studies published in premier venues, and policy recommendations that have shaped AI governance frameworks. Our mission is to catalyze an intellectual renaissance at the intersection of AI and human flourishing, advancing technologies that genuinely enhance and celebrate the human experience.