Academic center · Policy · Cornell Tech, New York · Est. 2017
Cornell Digital Life Initiative (DLI) is an academic research center housed at Cornell Tech in New York City, launched in 2017 to study the societal tensions produced by existing and emergent digital technologies. DLI’s mission centers on “ethics, policy, politics and quality of life within prevailing socio-technical systems,” with stated domain interests including privacy and digital technologies, AI/automated decision systems, big data and platforms, media/polarization, social networks, labor/workplace and robotics, warfare/cyber warfare, and digital health and well-being.
Strategically, DLI operates as a hub that brings together affiliated faculty and fellows across disciplines, and it also explicitly includes participation from industry, non-profit organizations, government, and media. DLI’s outward-facing program includes a Digital Life seminar series, ongoing fellowships (including visiting and postdoctoral fellowships), and publication/news mechanisms such as the DLI Dispatch newsletter and “Reflections”/blog content. DLI has also created adjacent institutional capacity to connect law and computing more directly: in particular, the Cornell Tech Research Lab in Applied Law and Technology (CTRL-ALT) was founded in 2021 as part of DLI. CTRL-ALT frames its purpose as integrated study of law and computer science to understand what happens when legal codes meet machine code, with research areas spanning platform governance/content moderation, algorithmic regulation and oversight, digital privacy/security, and computational analysis of law.
By Emma Harvey (Cornell Tech).
AI-Generated Content, Online Platforms, and the Fight for Authenticity: Who Loses When Content Production Requires Less Effort?By Travis Lloyd (Cornell Tech).
Algorithmic Conformity and the Limits of Human-in-the-LoopBy Yotam Liel (Cornell Tech).
Are Large Language Models Manipulating Us? An Analysis Based on Susser, Roessler, & Nissenbaum (2019)By Sterling Williams-Ceci (Cornell Tech).
Digital Eyes on the StreetBy Matt Franchi (Cornell Tech).
Rethinking Optimization: A Call for A Broader PerspectiveBy Pegah Nokhiz (Cornell Tech).
The Game of Accessibility: Usable Versus PlayableBy Jazmin Collins (Cornell Tech).
Data Subsidization for AI Training and Global Data Protection InequalitiesBy Noa Mor (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Eran Toch (Tel Aviv University).
Interview with Margot HanleyBy Shana Creaney (Cornell Tech).
The Pathetic DesignerBy Hauke Sandhaus (Cornell Tech).
GenAI’s Burden of AuthenticityBy Rajiv Movva (Cornell Tech).
Does Algorithmic Monoculture Increase Systemic Exclusion?By Kenny Peng (Cornell Tech).
Cornell Tech announced DLI’s $2 million gift from Peggy Koenig and stated that the gift would advance goals including launching a Fellowship in Technology Law & Policy.
DLI Dispatch | Summer 2026 | NewsletterDLI posted a Summer 2026 issue of its Dispatch newsletter on its News page, including commentary on whether and how AI should be characterized as “AI-generated.”