DAI Lab
Digital Agency, AI & Identity Lab
Studying agency, identity, and everyday life in an algorithmic world.
About Us:
​​Directed by Nora McDonald and based in the Information Sciences and Technology Department at George Mason University, the DAI research lab studies how AI systems, platforms, and digital infrastructures shape how people understand themselves, navigate privacy, and exercise agency. Our work spans youth and AI, age restrictions and device-free schools, algorithmic identity shaping, trust in AI systems, privacy and surveillance, and the social impacts of emerging technologies on youth development and family life. Learn more about the current project
News:
Cora Sula awarded Fulbright to study AI in classrooms in Estonia (June 17, 2026)
Cora has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms in Estonia this fall. Her project will investigate how this national initiative is shaping teachers’ professional practices and classroom pedagogy. Read a full article.
Nora Received NSF Career Award (June 9, 2026)
Nora McDonald received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award for $748,000 to better understand how adolescents experience and are shaped by these artificial intelligence (AI) and other personalized digital environments, and how they can develop the skills and capacities necessary to maintain their sense of self, autonomy, and agency within them. Read a full article.