Georgetown creates AI Academic Innovation Network as Dewey Murdick joins as Senior Fellow

Georgetown University has launched a new hub to drive academic innovation and explore human-AI interaction, alongside the appointment of Dewey Murdick as Senior Fellow.

In a LinkedIn post, Randall Bass, Vice President for Strategic Education Initiatives at Georgetown University, confirmed the launch of the Academic Innovation Network (AIN).

The initiative is described as a new hub for academic innovation designed to help the university respond to rapid technological and societal change.

Georgetown, a research university in Washington, DC, says the AIN will act as a collaborative platform linking research, curriculum design, and program development. It builds on the Red House and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), which have supported academic innovation at Georgetown for over two decades.

Focus on innovation and human-AI interaction

Bass writes that the AIN “continues 25 years of academic innovation by the Red House and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS).” He adds that the creation of the Network integrates the Red House’s “edge” innovation work into Georgetown’s core practices at a time when universities must respond with greater agility.

As part of the launch, Dewey Murdick, former Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies, joins Georgetown as Senior Fellow in the Red House and AIN. Bass notes that Murdick “will lead research and incubation focused on human-AI interaction and human potential.”

Murdick previously served as Director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he led a team of around 60 staff and provided data-driven analysis on the security implications of emerging technologies. His career spans artificial intelligence policy, emerging technology foresight, data science, and machine learning application development.

His earlier roles include Director of Science Analytics at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Deputy Chief Scientist at the Department of Homeland Security, and program manager at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).

Murdick’s view on AI and education

Speaking in a Georgetown University interview, Murdick outlines his perspective on how AI could reshape academic practice. He says: “AI presents opportunities to reshape both learning and teaching by transforming how students and professors interact with knowledge and each other.”

He adds: “Students might engage with complex problems earlier, using AI to synthesize information while focusing cognitive energy on higher-order thinking: creative synthesis, ethical reasoning, and navigating ambiguity. This could enable tackling more meaningful challenges that require distinctly human capabilities.”

Opportunities and challenges

Bass writes that the announcement positions the university “to take on the challenges of the moment by combining Dewey Murdick's deeply humane and evidence-based approach to human-AI interaction, the extraordinary leadership in pedagogical applications of AI by CNDLS, and the expansive and longstanding focus on the new paradigm of rehumanization that is core to the Red House.”

Bass continues, “With this week’s announcements, Georgetown is better positioned to take on the challenges of the moment by combining Dewey Murdick's deeply humane and evidence-based approach to human-AI interaction, the extraordinary leadership in pedagogical applications of AI by CNDLS, and the expansive and longstanding focus on the new paradigm of rehumanization that is core to the Red House.”

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