Stanford Critical AI

Stanford, are you awake?

Who we are

a community, not a lab.

Stanford Critical AI is a community of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty — from computer science to law, communication, sociology, and the humanities — asking the questions about AI that do not respect disciplinary borders.

We were born from a shared cognitive dissonance: the serendipitous crossing of paths between people from different fields and generations who could not, in good conscience, leave what is unfolding outside the gates of Stanford. We meet on campus to read, argue, and write together — and to imagine, and build, alternatives.

What we believe

five things we hold to be true.

AI is not neutral. It is socio-technical — co-produced with the institutions, labor, and political economies that surround it.
Its trajectory is not given. We reject the grammar of inevitability. The choices being made about AI are choices, not computations.
The real risks are present, not speculative. Censorship, surveillance, exploited labor, concentrated power — these are happening now, to the already-marginalized.
Critique is care. To be critical of AI is to be democratic and reasonable: to scrutinize any unexamined powerful system.
Other futures are possible. Through contestation, resistance, and reimagination — and worth building.

Read the full Manyfesto →

Team

drafted collectively, revised continuously.

Adrian Gamarra Lafuente co-founder

Builds sociotechnical systems centered on equity, language diversity, and inclusive AI design, at the intersection of machine learning and human-centered computing.

M.S., Computer Science · Stanford (B.S., Computer Science)

Angela Nguyen co-founder

Critically researches U.S. surveillance technologies and AI systems through ethics and policy, with a focus on marginalized communities. Student Liaison at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society; President of the Public Interest Technology Lab.

B.S., Computer Science · Stanford

Archit Lohani co-founder

Works at the intersection of research and policy advocacy on AI governance, platform regulation, and digital rights across global advocacy networks including DRAPAC, inSIG, and DFRLab.

LLM, Law, Science & Technology · Stanford Law (LLB · Symbiosis Law School, Pune)

Dr. Aube Tollu co-founder

Wallenberg Postdoctoral Fellow in Stanford’s Ethnography Lab. Research sits at the intersection of criminology, critical theory, and surveillance studies, with an active artistic practice alongside academic work.

Ph.D., Sociology · Lund; MPhil, Criminology · Cambridge; M.S., African Studies · Oxford; B.A. · King’s College London

Chijioke Mgbahurike co-founder

Researches sociotechnical implications of AI bias on marginalized communities, with a focus on language diversity and AI governance. AI & Law Research Fellow at LiftLab; former UNESCO Multilingual Access to Internet contributor.

M.S., Computer Science · Stanford (B.S., Computer Science)

Dr. Faye-Marie Vassel co-founder

Researches how cultural norms, power relations, and institutional structures drive intersectional tech inequities in computing and AI ecosystems. Co-organized the FAccT CRAFT workshop on youth perspectives in an AI-driven world.

Ph.D., Biology · MIT (B.S., Biochemistry · Stony Brook)

Sacha Alanoca co-founder

Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow who co-founded Critical AI and HAI’s Global AI Governance affinity group. Research published in ACM FAccT, Oxford’s JIDPL, and The Guardian; named one of the “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics.”

Ph.D. candidate, AI Governance · Stanford (MPA · Harvard; B.A. PPE · York)

Advisors

faculty who shape our thinking.

Angele Christin advisor

Associate Professor of Communication at Stanford, Senior HAI Fellow. Studies the social impact of algorithms and AI; author of Metrics at Work (Princeton UP) and the forthcoming Gurus, Hucksters, Entertainers (U Chicago Press, 2026).

Michele Elam advisor

William Robertson Coe Professor of Humanities at Stanford, Senior HAI Fellow. Research connects literature, social sciences, and STEM to examine cultural interpretations of gender and race.