How do you use AI responsibly? The DePaul RAISE Lab (Responsible AI Systems and Experiences) is tackling that question head-on. Founded by Jay Cunningham, assistant professor in the School of Computing, RAISE is grounded in human-centered AI, community collaboration and a commitment to designing technology in the public interest. Cunningham's focus is on building equitable and responsible AI that has a positive social impact.

In this Q&A, he discusses his research, teaching philosophy and how DePaul computing students are engaging directly with real-world challenges, from surveillance systems to global AI equity.

You launched the DePaul RAISE Lab last year. What inspired the focus of the lab?

I’ve been really interested in how we design AI systems that are fair, responsible and equitable, and a lot of that work falls under what people call computing for the common good or technology in the public interest.

When I was applying to DePaul, I saw a really strong alignment with that. The university, through its mission and the Designing DePaul initiative, is really thinking about ethical and responsible AI, not just as a side thing, but as something central. I wanted my lab to be strategically placed to do that kind of work.

Can you walk through one of the projects the lab is currently working on?

One of our major projects is focused on license plate reader technology in Illinois, especially in Chicago.

These are systems that use cameras or software to scan and record license plates, and they’ve been deployed across cities for years, often under the idea that they improve public safety.

But there’s been a lot of public concern around surveillance; how these systems are used, where the data goes, how long it’s stored, and who has access to it.

What we’re trying to understand is how these systems are actually showing up in communities. For example, we’re looking at the distribution of these cameras across Chicago and asking whether there are correlations with race, income or neighborhood demographics.

There’s this idea that in some communities, you’re seeing more surveillance, while in others, it’s framed more as protection. And that raises a lot of questions.

We’re also looking at transparency and accountability. A lot of these systems operate in ways that people don’t really see or understand, and there’s not always clear oversight.

On the technical side, we’re building our own model license plate reader system. The idea is to not just critique what exists, but to show what a better, more responsible version of this technology could look like.

I was recently named a 2026–2027 Wicklander Fellow by Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul, in support of this applied-ethics study titled Conditional Consent: A Community-Engaged Study of the Ethics of AI-Enabled Surveillance in Chicago, which will further advance this research agenda.

How are students involved in this work?

I have a group of mostly master’s students, especially in Human Computer Interaction, who are really driving a lot of this work.

They’re involved in everything, from technical development to community research. And they really take ownership of these projects.

We call ourselves “RAISERS,” because we’re trying to raise the bar when it comes to responsibility in tech.

For students, it’s not just about building something; it’s about thinking critically about what they’re building, who it impacts and why it matters.

What does community collaboration look like in practice?

A lot of what we do is human participatory research. So, instead of just sitting in the lab, building AI models and simply writing code to advance technical solutions in a silo, we’re actually trying to get out into communities and understand what people want from technology.  

I’ve worked in big tech — Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta — and a lot of times, systems are built without really involving the people who are most impacted by them. We’re trying to do the opposite. We want communities to be part of the design process, not just the recipients of whatever gets built.

So, we’re working with DePaul’s Steans Center to develop a community advisory board for the college, the Community Collaborative Computing Collective (C4), where local organizations can inform the research that we’re doing. C4 is an emerging community engagement and research initiative designed to establish durable, equitable partnerships between the university and Chicago-area community-based organizations (CBOs). Grounded in the Community Advisory Board (CAB) framework developed through prior research, C4 positions community partners as co-governors of computing research—shifting participation from consultation to shared decision-making and accountability.

What do you hope students take away from their experience in the RAISE Lab?

I want students to understand that technology has real impact on people’s lives. And I want them to feel empowered to build things, but to build them responsibly. From their coursework, to their workplaces, I wanted to train and develop socially conscious technology professionals, who critically interrogate their technical impacts on the world writ-large. That means engaging with communities, asking questions and thinking beyond just the technical side. I want to make responsible AI not just something we talk about, but something we actively build, research and implement.

What's next for you?

I recently published an essay in response to Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical (Magnifica Humanitas) from the perspective of an AI trust and safety researcher. My essay, What the Pope Just Asked of Those of Us Who Build AI, expands on four threads where the encyclical opens a door that society, especially architects of AI are now obligated to walk through and what it means specifically for DePaul as the largest Catholic university in the United States.

Learn more about the DePaul RAISE Lab and their mission to advance research, public knowledge, and innovation on the social and ethical responsibilities of computing and human-centered technologies.