Avriel Epps is a computational social scientist and PhD at Harvard, specializing in the impact of bias in predictive technologies on human development. With an M.S. in Data Science from Harvard and support from the Ford Foundation and National Center on Race and Digital Justice, Epps’s research examines the impact of algorithmic design on youth beliefs. Formerly a visiting research fellow at Spotify and an ed-tech founder, she’s worked with Google, TikTok, and various institutions on issues of algorithmic fairness. She has published in academic and popular outlets, including The Atlantic, and is featured in the PBS documentary TikTok, Boom.

Project: JusticeGPT

Epps leads AI4Abolition, an algorithmic justice organization working to build community power with and around artificial intelligence while working toward just alternatives to carceral (AI) systems. The organization’s flagship project, JusticeGPT, focuses on creating a data-driven platform that integrates transformative justice principles to facilitate conflict resolution, harm reduction, and healing among BIPOC systems-impacted youth. Through collaborations with transformative justice practitioners and organizations, AI4Abolition is designing an evidence-based tool that communities can use to repair harm, center accountability, and offer healing without involving carceral state-sponsored systems.