PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Sameer Hinduja

Sameer Hinduja is a criminologist and social scientist who studies how technology harms and protects young people, and his work on cyberbullying has extended to generative AI, deepfakes and companion chatbots. He completed a PhD in criminal justice with a cognate in computer science at Michigan State University, and in 2005 he launched the Cyberbullying Research Center with Justin Patchin. After the 2009 book Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard and Florida Atlantic University's Researcher of the Year awards in 2010 and 2015, he wrote about generative AI as a vector for harassment in 2023, and AP quoted him on school deepfake policy in 2025. In 2026, he and Patchin reported a Journal of Adolescence study of 3,466 US teens on conversational AI chatbots. He is a professor at Florida Atlantic University, co-director of the Center and a faculty associate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, and he is leading a national study of teens and AI companion chatbots in the 2026–27 academic year.

Now at
Cyberbullying Research Center and Florida Atlantic University
Works
115
Citations
13,123
h-index
40
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2002–2005

    Founding the Cyberbullying Research Center

    He and Justin W. Patchin start studying online risks and harms to young people in 2002, and they launch the Cyberbullying Research Center in 2005. The Center's mission is to bring sound research about youth and technology to those who can benefit most from it.

  2. By 2006

    A PhD at Michigan State

    He grows up in Florida and earns a bachelor's degree in criminal justice at the University of Central Florida. At Michigan State University, he earns a master's degree in criminal justice and then a PhD in criminal justice with a cognate in computer science. His sole-authored book Music Piracy and Crime Theory appears in 2006.

  3. 2009

    Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard

    He and Justin Patchin publish Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying through Sage Publications (Corwin Press) in 2009.

  4. 2010–2017

    Research awards and a Fulbright

    Florida Atlantic University names him its Researcher of the Year in 2010 and 2015, and Auburn University gives him its Global Anti-Bullying Hero Award in 2015. He receives a Fulbright Specialist Award in 2017.

  5. 2023

    Writing on generative AI harms

    In May 2023, he publishes "Generative AI as a Vector for Harassment and Harm" on the Cyberbullying Research Center site, arguing that it is critical to think through the potential risks and negative impacts of generative AI technologies. In 2023, the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, where he is a faculty associate, features his analysis of how generative AI tools could perpetuate online harassment at massive scale.

  6. December 2025

    Advice on school deepfakes

    In December 2025, an AP report on AI-generated nude images spreading through schools quotes him, as co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, recommending that schools update their policies on AI-generated deepfakes and get better at explaining them.

  7. May 2026

    A national teen chatbot study

    In May 2026, he and Justin Patchin report a national study in the Journal of Adolescence of 3,466 US teens aged 13 to 17. It finds that 60.2% have used a conversational AI chatbot and that 47.1% of the teens who use them report at least one harmful interaction.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI companion research at FAU

    He is a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University. During the 2026–27 academic year, he leads a funded national study of how teenagers adopt, use and misuse AI companion chatbots. He is also building machine learning models that estimate individualized risk profiles for certain online harms and developing AI literacy curricula for secondary schools.

Career

  1. Since 2005Cyberbullying Research CenterCo-founder, Co-director
  2. Since 2004Florida Atlantic UniversityProfessor

Education

  1. University of Central FloridaBachelor's degree
  2. Michigan State UniversityMaster's degree

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide2010 · Archives of Suicide Research · 2,077 citations
  2. Bullies Move Beyond the Schoolyard2006 · Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice · 1,699 citations
  3. Cyberbullying: An Exploratory Analysis of Factors Related to Offending and Victimization2008 · Deviant Behavior · 1,495 citations
  4. Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying2008 · 876 citations
  5. Cyberbullying and Self-Esteem2010 · Journal of School Health · 797 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Florida Atlantic University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Michigan State University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Michigan State University. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Michigan State University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. About us - Cyberbullying Research Center cyberbullying.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Sameer Hinduja - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Generative AI as a Vector for Harassment and Harm - Cyberbullying Research Center cyberbullying.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Thinking Through Generative AI Harms Among Users on Online Platforms | Berkman Klein Center cyber.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools yahoo.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Conversational AI Chatbots and US Teens: Nearly Half Who Use Them Report Harm - Cyberbullying Research Center cyberbullying.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Sameer Hinduja | Berkman Klein Center cyber.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. Bio | Florida Atlantic University fau.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.