AI Expert Kate Crawford Joins the Weizenbaum Institute as a Distinguished Fellow

AI researcher Prof. Kate Crawford will be a Distinguished Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute from 2 August to 2 September 2026. During her one-month research stay in Berlin, she will work on her new book and engage in discussions with researchers at the Institute, as well as with the broader public on deeper questions surrounding artificial intelligence.

Kate Crawford is one of the world’s most influential scholars of the impacts of artificial intelligence. Her work brings together computer science, social sciences, and cultural studies. In her research, she examines how digital technologies transform power relations, social inequalities, and the material environment. Her work expands the perspective beyond technology itself to explore the far-reaching political, economic, and societal consequences of AI systems.

Her award-winning book Atlas of AI is considered one of the most important international contributions to the critical study of artificial intelligence. It has been translated into 14 languages and was named one of the best books of 2021 by the Financial Times. Through this work, Crawford has played a key role in shaping the global debate on the implications of AI.

“By welcoming Kate Crawford, we are hosting one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of artificial intelligence at the Weizenbaum Institute,” says Christoph Neuberger, Scientific Managing Director of the Weizenbaum Institute. “Her research stay strengthens the international exchange that our Institute has fostered for many years and opens up new perspectives on the societal challenges of digital transformation in Germany and the European Union.”

Through its Distinguished Fellowship Programme, the Weizenbaum Institute invites internationally leading scholars to Berlin for research stays. Since the Institute was founded in 2017, more than 360 fellows from 47 countries have been associated with the Weizenbaum Institute. The programme promotes international collaborations and brings outstanding perspectives into the Institute’s research.

During her fellowship, Kate Crawford will also give a public lecture. Further information about the event will be announced separately.

About Kate Crawford

Kate Crawford is a leading scholar of AI. She is a Professor at the University of Southern California in LA, a Senior Principal Researcher at MSR New York, and the inaugural visiting chair of AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Her award-winning book, Atlas of AI, has been translated into fourteen languages and won multiple international prizes. It was also named a best book of the year by The Financial Times. She has advised policymakers in the White House, the European Parliament, and the United Nations.

Beyond her scholarly work, Crawford is an award-winning artist. She produces large-scale installations and artworks that are in the permanent collections of MoMA, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, and the Design Museum of London. Her most recent work, Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Power and Technology Since 1500, won the Silver Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, the Grand Prize of the European Commission for art and technology, and the Boghossian Art Prize. TIME100 named Crawford as one of the world’s most influential people in AI.