Georgetown has appointed Dewey Murdick, a national leader in AI policy, emerging technology and data science, to helm a new human-centered AI incubator for educational settings.
As the senior fellow in the Red House and Georgetown’s new Academic Innovation Network (AIN), Dewey will lead research on how students and professors can collaborate with AI and develop innovative learning models that address cost, quality and access needs.
He will also play a foundational role in developing Georgetown’s AIN, a new platform for innovative interdisciplinary programs and forward-looking academic initiatives. AIN, which includes the Red House and Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), will further the institutions’ 25 years of academic innovation.
Previously, Murdick served for five years as the executive director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technologies, where he provided policymakers and industry leaders with data-driven analysis on the security implications of emerging technologies.
Prior to Georgetown, Murdick worked across government and private sectors, serving as the director of science analytics at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, as the deputy chief scientist at the Department of Homeland Security and the co-founder of an office in anticipatory intelligence at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.
“With the launch of the Academic Innovation Network and Dewey’s leadership of its new human-AI learning incubator work, Georgetown will be better positioned to imagine and build a human-centered future for higher education. As a partner in the Network, he strengthens our institutional capacity for change in ways that can build with the creativity of the community and forge stronger connections to the wider world,” said Randy Bass, vice president for Strategic Education Initiatives and director of the Red House.
As Murdick takes on this new role, we sat down with him to learn more about the opportunities he sees for AI in education, his approach to human-AI innovation and his goals for the upcoming year.
Q: What opportunities do you see for AI in the context of academic innovation?
Murdick: AI presents opportunities to reshape both learning and teaching by transforming how students and professors interact with knowledge and each other.
AI appears to allow students to perform at dramatically higher capability levels, creating what I believe is an entirely new learning challenge. Instead of climbing the skills ladder rung by rung, students may now navigate a complex framework where human skills and AI capabilities interweave.
The opportunity lies in designing educational experiences that help students build genuine expertise from this elevated starting point rather than becoming dependent on tools they don’t understand.
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.
AI may also further shift the professor’s role from content delivery toward cognitive facilitation and knowledge contextualization. When AI provides instant information and analysis (despite current limitations), professors can focus on helping students develop critical thinking skills to evaluate, synthesize and apply insights effectively.
AI might enable real-time identification of knowledge gaps, personalized learning pathways and sophisticated assessments that distinguish tool proficiency from genuine understanding. Professors could potentially focus less on routine tasks and more on mentoring human development while modeling effective human-AI collaboration.
Q: What do you want the Georgetown community to know about your approach to human-AI interaction and pedagogical innovation as you begin this work?
Murdick: I bring an evidence-driven approach shaped by over six years building Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). My approach has always been to follow the data wherever it leads, even when it challenges conventional wisdom. At CSET, we don’t pick sides — we follow evidence to provide nuanced insights that shape smarter policy approaches.
This same commitment to intellectual honesty will guide my work with the Academic Innovation Network. I maintain a balanced view of AI’s potential — recognizing both its tremendous opportunities and genuine risks.
This perspective shapes how I’m focused on exploring AI systems that preserve flow states and foster human connection while creating educational challenges that require distinctly human capabilities — judgment, creativity and interdisciplinary thinking. When AI can seemingly complete traditional assignments effortlessly, we need fundamentally new approaches.
This extends to developing assessment methods that distinguish tool proficiency from genuine understanding, and helping students recognize when cognitive struggle drives valuable development. I am looking forward to building on the progress CNDLS and Red House have already set in motion.
Q: What are your primary goals for your first year? Given your experience leading teams and co-founding new ventures, what are the first concrete steps you’ll take to get started?
Murdick: My first-year goals center on learning from Georgetown students, faculty and staff while establishing the foundation for systematic innovation. I’m excited to get back in the classroom teaching across different formats — individual courses, group projects and experiential learning — which will provide updated insight into how students actually learn in this new environment.
Working with my colleagues at CNDLS and Red House, we’ll connect with employers to establish feedback mechanisms about how well students are prepared for the workforce and build both the research foundation and experimental infrastructure needed for the Academic Innovation Network.
The first concrete step is systematic listening — understanding current challenges before proposing solutions. Then we’ll incubate promising approaches.
Q: How do Georgetown’s Jesuit values guide your mission and how will they guide the Academic Innovation Network’s work?
Murdick: Georgetown’s approach to whole person education is why I want to work on these problems here. The Jesuit principle of care for the whole person isn’t just compatible with rethinking human education — it’s essential to it.
As we explore AI integration, we’re not just asking, ‘Can we do this?’ but ‘Should we do this, and how do we ensure it serves human flourishing?’ The Jesuit emphasis on careful reflection directly informs our approach to evaluating which AI applications genuinely enhance human potential versus those that might diminish it. Georgetown’s commitment to justice means expanding access to quality education beyond the privileged few.
The Jesuit tradition of rigorous inquiry, combined with ethical reflection, perfectly matches our experimental approach. We’re committed to following evidence while ensuring technology serves humanity. This mission is the starting point for every idea we explore.
Read more of the Q&A with Murdick here.
