Washington — Muriel Clauson Closs, PhD, has been named the inaugural executive director of the American Psychological Association's Center for Behavioral Science and AI. The center will put behavioral science to work both to inform how artificial intelligence (AI) is designed and how it impacts society.
An industrial-organizational psychologist, Clauson Closs will lead the Center’s work—translating decades of behavioral science into guidance the people who build, use and govern AI systems can act on. That work touches AI at two levels: the safety of the systems themselves, and society’s readiness to navigate them.
She has served as a researcher, speaker and advisor on the responsible adoption of AI for Fortune 500 companies—including Franklin Templeton, Yum! Brands and Palo Alto Networks—and for governments and global institutions such as the Milken Institute, the U.S. State Department and the InterAction Council.
Most recently, Clauson Closs served as chief executive officer of Anthill, a mission-driven organization she co-founded to support frontline workers with AI systems grounded in behavioral science. Her work creating innovative tools for the workforce earned recognition by Forbes as part of its inaugural Future of Work 50 list. Clauson Closs holds a PhD and an MS in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Georgia.
“Dr. Clauson Closs brings the unique and important combination of scientific grounding, institution-building experience and familiarity with the AI industry required to build and lead APA’s Center for Behavioral Science and AI,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD. “By translating psychological science for those engineers designing AI, for decisionmakers considering AI regulations and public policy and for the broader public seeking guidance on AI use, we have an opportunity to proactively and positively impact the most consequential technology of our time.”
“AI is being built and adopted faster than our understanding of how it affects people has been able to keep pace,” Clauson Closs said. “The Center is taking on an ambitious goal—leveraging behavioral science to shape the trajectory of these technologies and promote positive outcomes for people. I’m honored to lead this important work to give the people building AI, the policymakers regulating it and the public using it a credible scientific path to getting this right.”