About
Researchers I know are already using AI to write code, run analyses, draft papers, and prep for class. Most of them are figuring it out as they go. The interesting question isn't whether they should — it's what happens when they do.
I started Machine Collaborators to make space for that question. Every two weeks, a researcher walks through how AI has actually entered their work — the parts that went well, the parts that didn't — and then we talk about it.
No sales pitches. No policy panels. Just honest conversation about practice.
Next Session
June 11, 2026 · 7:00 PM ET
Jie (Jason) Lian · Postdoctoral Researcher, Nonviolent Action Lab, Harvard Kennedy School
Learning with AI
In the AI era, you can outsource coding, writing, or even part of thinking, but not the deeper work of understanding. As academia continues to define what responsible AI-powered research should look like, one principle should remain essential: researchers must understand the products, processes, and limits of the tools they use. Correspondingly, the ability to expand one's knowledge boundaries and learn effectively with AI becomes an important skill for modern researchers. In this talk, Jason will share a few examples from his own ongoing experiments with AI-assisted workflows. Through these examples, he hopes to reflect on what research and learning with AI might look like in practice, including the opportunities it creates, the limits it reveals, and the questions it raises along the way.
From Pixels to Patterns: Vision-Language OCR and LLM-Based Text Analysis
AI Is Not an Algorithm: What That Means for Research Practice
Tracing AI Assistance and AI Agents in Survey Research
Ethical, Effective, and Transparent Workflows: How to Set Clear Guidelines Surrounding AI Usage for Academic Research
Dina Pisareva
Aug 20AI as a Cognitive Partner in Research and Teaching
Speak
Share what you've learned.
I'm looking for researchers with firsthand experience — a workflow you built, something that broke, a question you're still working through.
You can nominate yourself or suggest someone else.
Nominate a SpeakerConvener
Charles Crabtree
Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University.
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You'll get the speaker, topic, date, and Zoom link. Bi-weekly. That's it.