Anjana Susarla
Omura-Saxena Professor in Responsible AI
Anjana Susarla's research includes the economics of information systems, social media analytics and economics of artificial intelligence.
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Anjana Susarla earned an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai; a graduate degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta; and Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include the economics of information systems, social media analytics and the economics of artificial intelligence. Her work has appeared in several academic journals and peer-reviewed conferences
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such as Academy of Management Conference, Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (Neurips), Information Systems Research, International Conference in Information Systems, International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), Journal of Management Information Systems, Management Science and MIS Quarterly. She has served on and serves on the editorial boards of Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly.
Anjana Susarla has received several awards for her research. She been a recipient of the William S. Livingston Award for Outstanding Graduate Students at the University of Texas, a Steven Schrader Best Paper Finalist at the Academy of Management, the Association of Information Systems Best Publication Award, a Runner-Up for Information Systems Research Best Published Paper Award and the Microsoft Prize by the International Network of Social Networks Analysis Sunbelt Conference. She has worked in consulting and led experiential projects with several companies. Her research has received grants and funding from several institutions including the National Library of Medicine.
Education
University of Texas at Austin: PhD, Management Information Systems | 2003
Indian Institute of Management: MBA, Finance | 1997
Indian Institute of Technology: B. Tech, Mechanical Engineering | 1995
Selected Press
Big tech has a vaccine misinformation problem – here's what a social media expert recommends
The Conversation | 2021-07-29
This article was written by Anjana Susarla, Omura-Saxena Professor of Responsible AI at Michigan State University.
With less than half the United States population fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and as the delta variant sweeps the nation, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory that called misinformation an urgent threat to public health. The advisory said efforts by social media companies to combat misinformation are “too little, too late and still don't go far enough.” The advisory came more than a year after the World Health Organization warned of a COVID-related “infodemic.”
How I Know Facebook Can’t Fix the Problems It Profits From
The Daily Beast | 2021-07-28
“Algorithms on social media platforms are primed for engagement. The anti-vaxxers know this and are very well organized to exploit the weaknesses of the engagement driven ecosystem on Big Tech platforms,” Anjana Susarla, Omura-Saxena Professor of Responsible AI at Michigan State University, told me. Specifically, these right-wing actors have discovered and exploited a “grey area” in Facebook’s content moderation to promote their attacks on vaccines and science. The phenomenon has been described as “lying through truth.”
Anyone with an iPhone can now make deepfakes. We aren’t ready for what happens next.
The Washington Post | 2021-03-25
All three of the latest free services say they’re mostly being used for positive purposes: satire, entertainment and historical re-creations. The problem is, we already know there are plenty of bad uses for deepfakes, too. “It’s all very cute when we do this with grandpa’s pictures,” says Michigan State University responsible-AI professor Anjana Susarla. “But you can take anyone’s picture from social media and make manipulated images of them. That’s what’s concerning.”
'It's a Worry That Big Tech Companies Have So Much Power Over the Information We Consume' - Analyst
Sputnik News | 2021-02-24
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled Facebook's behaviour as "arrogant" adding that “they may be changing the world, but that doesn’t mean they run it.” The actions of the social network strengthened arguments for the need to challenge the monopoly power of tech giants and subject them to regulations.Sputnik spoke with Anjana Susarla, Omura-Saxena Professor of Responsible AI at Michigan State University, to hear her thoughts on government concerns over big tech monopolisation and if it is possible for social media giants like Facebook to self-regulate.
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