Snehalkumar ‘Neil’ Gaikwad
Assistant Professor
School of Data Science and Department of Computer Science
India Related Research
Neil Gaikwad is an Assistant Professor in Data Science and Computer Science at UNC Chapel Hill, where he also serves on the Faculty Advisory Council of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics and is a Fellow at the MIT Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values. Neil’s public interest research advances socially responsible design of AI systems and policy through computational approaches that align human values and ethical principles for equitable decision-making in high-stakes settings. Neil holds a Ph.D. in Society-Centered AI from MIT. He is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science.
Through participatory design of AI, Neil’s research continues to address algorithmic discrimination and expands opportunities for underserved communities, as demonstrated in his work on the compounded crises of climate change and farmer suicides—which has claimed over 300,000 lives in India and devastated farming communities worldwide. This approach to designing Human-AI systems in society centers value-sensitive principles to shape equitable climate adaptation policies while prioritizing fairness for vulnerable populations.
Neil’s research has been featured in leading AI and HCI conferences as well as The New York Times, Bloomberg, WIRED, and the United Nations. Neil has been recognized with the Facebook Research Fellowship, Human Rights & Technology Fellowship, Rising Star recognition from Stanford University and the University of Chicago, and MIT’s highest student honor – the Karl Taylor Compton Prize and Graduate Teaching Award. As a dedicated educator and mentor, he has guided over 30 students to publish influential papers, secure competitive fellowships, and shape AI fairness policy, while teaching at Carnegie Mellon, MIT EECS, MIT IDSS, and the MIT Media Lab.
Contact Information
gaikwad@unc.edu
9194450200
Website
