Kathryn (Katie) Conrad

I am a professor of English at the University of Kansas, where I am also serving as the Dean's Fellow for Humanities Advancement for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and affiliate faculty in the Center for Cyber-Social Dynamics (I2S). My primary research focus is on technology and culture, particularly but not exclusively with regard to contemporary "artificial intelligence"; surveillance technologies; and technology in British, Irish, and Northern Irish literature and culture. I am currently particularly interested in the ethical questions that accompany the development, deployment, and use of generative AI tools.  I am the author of "A Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights for Education" (Critical AI 2.1) and have published several articles and book chapters on technology and culture (see below).  I am co-director (with Sean Kamperman) of the AI & Digital Literacy project, in partnership with the National Humanities Center and funded in 2024 by the Hall Family Foundation and the William T. Kemper Foundation (Commerce Bank, Trustee) and in 2025 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). I also serve as Associate Editor for Education Policy for Critical AI and on the founding advisory board for Harvard’s AI Pedagogy Project. I have spoken on topics including critical AI literacy, AI & writing, AI ethics, and AI risk & compliance at the University of Kansas, Rutgers University, and Kansas State University as well as on several webinars, panels, and podcasts. In June 2024, I served on an experts' panel advising the UN Special Rapporteur for Education on human rights, AI and education.