PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Hamid Ekbia

Also known as Hamid Reza Ekbia

Hamid Ekbia is a researcher whose work examines artificial intelligence, computing, and public policy. He studied electrical engineering at Abadan Institute of Technology and UCLA before completing a computer science and cognitive science PhD at Indiana University in 2003. His 2008 book Artificial Dreams is a critical-technical analysis of AI; with Bonnie Nardi, he published Heteromation about unpaid digital labor in 2017. A Fulbright Specialist Award took him to Uzbekistan in 2022 to teach human-centered AI and machine learning, and the University of West Bohemia awarded him an honorary doctorate for his interdisciplinary AI research. He joins Syracuse as a University Professor and director of its Autonomous Systems Policy Institute in 2023; in March 2026, he is a Syracuse professor and founding director of the Academic Alliance for AI Policy, commenting on industry self-regulation.

Timeline

  1. 2003

    A doctorate on AI discourse

    Known also as Hamid Reza Ekbia, he studies electrical engineering at Abadan Institute of Technology and UCLA before earning a PhD in computer science and cognitive science at Indiana University in 2003. His dissertation, “AI Dreams and Discourse: Science and Engineering in Tension,” examines the goals, claims, and accomplishments of AI approaches.

  2. 2008

    Artificial Dreams

    In 2008, he publishes Artificial Dreams: The Quest for Non-Biological Intelligence, a critical-technical analysis of artificial intelligence.

  3. 2017

    Heteromation and digital labor

    With Bonnie Nardi, he publishes Heteromation, and Other Stories of Computing and Capitalism in 2017. The book examines how automated systems and platforms use unpaid public labor to generate value for corporations.

  4. 2022

    AI teaching and an honorary doctorate

    In May 2022, a Fulbright Specialist Award sends him to Uzbekistan to teach AI courses and lead development of an AI program at Fergana Polytechnic Institute. He teaches human-centered AI and machine learning and works with FerPI staff to develop a four-year curriculum. In November 2022, the University of West Bohemia awards him an honorary doctorate for his interdisciplinary research into AI’s effects on socio-economic, geopolitical, and cultural relations.

  5. 2023

    Syracuse professor and ASPI director

    In January 2023, he joins Syracuse University as a University Professor. In July 2023, he becomes director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute.

  6. March 2026

    Syracuse professor and alliance director

    In March 2026, he is a University Professor at Syracuse and founding director of the Academic Alliance for AI Policy. He comments on the Anthropic-Pentagon dispute and the limits of industry self-regulation.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Hamid Ekbia yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Personal — Hamid R. Ekbia forabetterfuture.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Hamid Ekbia, Ph.D., Appointed Director of Autonomous Systems Policy Institute news.syr.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Dissertation Information for Hamid Ekbia ibiblio.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Vienna 2016 | Hamid Ekbia | Computing and Capitalism: Dynamics of Systemic Change bcsss.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Future Facing: Maxwell Scholars Respond to the Rapid Rise of AI and Autonomous Systems maxwell.syr.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Professor Hamid Ekbia earns Fulbright to teach establish AI program in Uzbekistan news.iu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. UWB awarded honorary doctorates to the AI expert Hamid Ekbia and the sculptor Kurt Gebauer info.zcu.cz. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute Reveals Limits of AI Self-Regulation, Expert Says news.syr.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.