AIR
A project of NUILab at Colorado State University
AI for Researchers
Using Large Language Models to conduct responsible research
Based on the funded proposal “Towards the productive middle: Building CSU capacity for effective human-AI research collaboration,” an internal research capacity-building award from the CSU Office of the Vice President for Research.
The idea
Researchers tend toward two easy positions on AI. One is to avoid these tools altogether. The other is to hand work to them and accept whatever comes back. AIR is about the space between the two: using AI as a collaborator, checking what it produces, and building the judgment that makes it genuinely useful in research.
We call that space the productive middle. Getting there is not automatic. It takes practice with the tools, honest comparison of what different tools do well and badly, and shared habits for reviewing their output. This project gives CSU researchers a place to build those habits together.
AIR runs during the 2026 to 2027 academic calendar year. It is led by the Natural User Interaction Lab in the Department of Computer Science and supported by the CSU Office of the Vice President for Research.
What we are doing
Workshops
Full-day working sessions for CSU research personnel. Participation is selective, and we are still shaping the format. More information will come.
MoreA publication and a guide
A publication and a practical guide will come out of this project. We will share more as they take shape.