Made possible through the generosity of Ron and Katie Bodkin, the Bodkin Family Responsible AI Research Fund is intended to catalyze interdisciplinary inquiry into ethical development, use, and governance of artificial intelligence. This current-use fund, launched in 2026-27 and to offer competitive research grants over four years, supports faculty and student projects that examine a variety of impacts of AI on society. It is intended to enable exploratory studies, new collaborations, and evidence-based policy inquiries that reflect Pomona’s liberal arts strengths.
Priority Themes
- What key philosophical, empirical, and technical issues arise in the pursuit of ethical development of AI?
- How well does the public understand the trajectory of AI capabilities and the risks involved—to public safety, academic integrity, political transparency, and so on?
- How does AI impact equality and the concentration of power in the economic, social, and political spheres?
- Given the developmental trajectory of generative AI systems, can public or private institutions be developed to safeguard society from harmful effects of AI while facilitating development of AI that provides broad benefits?
Illustrative Project Topics
- Independent oversight and accountability: What institutional structures are best suited to evaluate and regulate frontier AI systems independent of their developers? Can international coordination problems in AI governance be achieved in practice? What can we learn from analogous oversight regimes (nuclear, biosafety, aviation)?
- Power concentration and democratic safeguards: How do advanced AI capabilities shift power dynamics among governments, corporations, and citizens? What legal and institutional safeguards prevent AI-enabled consolidation of power, including scenarios where AI systems are used to undermine democratic governance or enable authoritarian control? When the same surveillance technologies appear in both authoritarian and democratic states, what meaningful distinctions remain—and are transparency benchmarks and judicial oversight enough to protect civil liberties?
- Public understanding and informed governance: How well does the public understand the trajectory of AI capabilities and the risks involved? What transparency requirements enable meaningful democratic input into AI development decisions? How do we close the gap between technical reality and public/policymaker comprehension?
- Labor, power, and the economics of AI: Is there historical evidence from prior waves of automation—mechanization, computerization, offshoring—that predicts how AI gains will be distributed, or is this wave categorically different? How do firms use AI adoption as justification for wage suppression, reclassification of workers, or the substitution of full-time employment with contingent arrangements? How do workers experience algorithmic management psychologically—and what are the effects on stress, dignity, motivation, and identification with work? What policy instruments—taxation of AI capital, sectoral bargaining mandates, portable benefits, adjustment assistance—are best suited to ensuring that AI gains are broadly shared?
- Self-regulation: Have competitive pressures among AI developers led to a race to the bottom that makes generative systems more detrimental to society, or successive improvements that provide social benefits, or both? What regulatory levers can actually hold them accountable for the misinformation they enable? What is bias—philosophically and technically—and if it originates in training data, how far should it be allowed to travel through model behavior before anyone with design authority is obligated to stop it?
Research Grants
- Faculty research grants are offered on the scale of Large Research Grants or even larger, provide for similar expense coverage, and will have a duration of up to two years.
- Funds are reserved each year for at least one student project under the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Faculty Grants
Pomona faculty from any department or program are eligible to apply, with interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged and student roles integrated as appropriate. Proposals are evaluated based on alignment with responsible AI themes and potential for societal benefit, as well as the feasibility and quality of the research plan, including data availability and methods. Consideration will also be given to the quality of a student mentorship plan, if any, and pathways to external funding, publication, or public impact.
Student Grants
Eligibility is similar to that of SURP in general. Students from any department or program are welcome to apply. Application is made through the SURP program, subject to its timeline. Participation in the Intensive Summer Experience Poster Conference early in the Fall Semester is mandatory. As in the case of the faculty grants, proposals are evaluated based on alignment with responsible AI themes and potential for societal benefit, as well as the feasibility and quality of the research plan, including data availability and methods.
Questions may be directed to the Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure.