Anna Kawakami is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research examines public sector agencies’ current practices and challenges to successfully navigating AI adoption and governance decisions. Building on this understanding, she collaborates with agencies and community groups to develop new processes and tools to support more responsible AI development, adoption, evaluation, and governance practices. Her work yields implications for improving practices across a range of layers–from model development and interface design, to organizational processes and public policy.
Her research on public sector AI has informed policy discourse and research through consultations by policy organizations like the White House OSTP, the Centre for Democracy and Technology, and the Roosevelt Institute. Her research has also been covered through national media outlets such as AP News and PBS News. Beyond public sector contexts, her research has also contributed to responsible AI efforts at Microsoft. At Carnegie Mellon University, she is a NSF GRFP Fellow and K&L Gates Presidential Fellow.