Katherine Elkins, AI safety researcher and author

Katherine Elkins

AI safety researcher · computational humanities scholar · author

Katherine Elkins is Professor of Humanities and Comparative Literature at Kenyon College, Co-Founder of the Human-Centered AI Lab, and co-lead of the Modern Language Association team at the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium. Her research connects AI safety, computational humanities, narrative, creativity, philosophy of mind and literature, and higher education.

Profiles: Wikipedia Grokipedia Google Scholar ORCID CV

Early on AI

2016

Human-centered AI curriculum and AI CoLab

2020

GPT-3 Writer's Turing Test

2022

The Shapes of Stories, Cambridge University Press

2024

CAISI / AI safety audit / PMLA / ICML oral

2025

Schmidt Sciences HAVI / Public AI / OpenAI Higher Education Forum

Current Work

CAISI / NIST AI Safety Institute Consortium

Co-leads the team representing the Modern Language Association at the NIST AI Safety Institute Consortium.

Schmidt Sciences HAVI / Archival Intelligence

Co-PI of Archival Intelligence, a Schmidt Sciences Humanities and AI Virtual Institute project.

The Shapes of Stories

Cambridge Element on sentiment analysis for narrative, Cambridge University Press, 2022.

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Research

Six connected areas spanning AI safety, governance, sentiment analysis, creativity, philosophy of mind and literature, and higher education.

Media

Selected press, broadcast, audio, and public scholarship.

Books

Books, lectures, and edited work, including The Shapes of Stories and the Proust philosophical perspectives collection.

Recognition

Grants, fellowships, awards, teaching honors, and selected research reception.

Media and FAQ

Media

Selected press, broadcast, and public scholarship appearances across research, standards work, and archival intelligence.

  • Christian Science Monitor on language-model evaluation at NIST
  • NPR / WOSU on the Archival Intelligence project
  • Forbes on AI, the humanities, and interdisciplinary research
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FAQ

Answers on research focus, AI safety methods, the human-centered AI curriculum, and where to find the full body of work.

  • What defines the research program across AI and the humanities?
  • How does the confidence-scoring audit methodology work?
  • Where can collaborators, journalists, and students start?
Read the FAQ