Mona Diab understands what is at stake.

As a research scientist at two of the largest technology companies on the planet, Diab saw the impact innovations had as they spread across the globe. And with artificial intelligence poised to usher in the greatest technological leap since the internet, Diab wants to train, teach and prepare students, researchers, scientists and communities to think responsibly about these new tools.

“We’re living in a world of proliferating AI and generative AI. There is so much at stake,” Diab said. “We are at an inflection point for this technology and the discipline as a whole. It is a critical time to take into account its impact and sustainability.”

Diab takes the reins of Carnegie Mellon University’s Language Technologies Institute (LTI) this month. Part of CMU’s School of Computer Science, the institute is home to cutting-edge research into the large language models powering the recent wave of generative AI systems and has a history of developing systems that have changed how computers understand and interact with humanity.

For Diab, AI researchers, scientists and students must consider issues ranging from security, privacy and accountability to diversity, equity and inclusion. They need to ask questions about climate and culture alongside questions about ones and zeros. Diab coined this the “responsible thinking” approach, and she wants the LTI to embrace it as fully as critical and computational thinking.

“Responsible thinking needs to become core to our work. It should shape the future of language technologies and AI at large” Diab said.

Diab joins CMU from Meta, where she was the lead responsible AI scientist. Before Meta, Diab worked as a principal scientist at Amazon Web Services and was a professor at George Washington University, where she founded the CARE4Lang lab. She is a globally renowned expert on Arabic natural language processing (NLP), multilingual processing and computational social sciences. She earned a doctorate in computational linguistics from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in computer science from George Washington University.

She majored in computer science and Egyptology with undergraduate degrees from The American University and Helwan University, both in Cairo. Diab blends both of those majors in a research thrust using NLP technology to build tools to read and reconstruct hieroglyphics in hopes of opening the field to more people and gaining new insights into history.

CMU’s trailblazing research, top AI and computer science programs, and talent drew Diab to the university. She said there is no better place to affect the development and use of the next generation of technology than the School of Computer Science.

Diab believes there is a gap in the current workforce, as it doesn’t cater to what the current technology needs. To fill that gap, she wants to instigate a strong student-centric paradigm shift at CMU, to sustain excellence in both research and pedagogy. She aspires to train the best possible talent and transform the LTI into a leader in responsible thinking. With top faculty training top students who go on to secure top positions in industry and academia, the institute is positioned to snowball a responsible posture toward AI.

“Mona Diab’s relentless pursuit of responsible AI in both academia and industry will strengthen the work of the Language Technologies Institute, School of Computer Science and Carnegie Mellon University as we seek to empower future generations of AI talent and develop a new wave of transformative technologies in an ethical, fair and sustainable manner,” said Martial Hebert, dean of the School of Computer Science. “We are thrilled to have Mona’s expertise and passion at CMU and excited to work with her on her vision.”

Diab wants to proactively build the responsible AI framework into technology from the onset to avoid potential cultural harm as it spreads across the globe. She saw these harms as social media platforms spread to other countries, where Western-built platforms couldn’t accommodate the nuances of different cultures.