Civic AI Working Group

A Research Hub at California Lutheran University

The Civic AI Working Group is an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to examining how artificial intelligence is restructuring social, economic, and political institutions. We operate at the intersection of critical inquiry and constructive civic design. On one hand, our research explores how agentic AI and computational tools can be harnessed to promote the common good—deepening democratic participation, expanding civic engagement, and augmenting public policy analysis. On the other hand, we cultivate rigorous critiques of the material, environmental, and geopolitical footprint of AI systems, investigating pressing concerns such as the immense water and energy consumption of data centers, extractive data colonialism, labor exploitation in model alignment, and algorithmic harms.

Through undergraduate research mentorship, collaborative inquiry, and dynamic civic prototyping, the Working Group empowers students and scholars to critically interrogate the politics of algorithmic optimization while building ethical, public-interest alternatives.

Explore our current projects and prototypes.