Directory

Kathleen Carley is a professor in the Engineering and Public Policy Department, Computer Science Department, and Social and Decision Sciences Department at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the director of the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS), a university wide interdisciplinary center that brings together network analysis, computer science and organization science, and has an associated NSF-funded training program for Ph.D. students. Carley’s research combines cognitive science, social networks, and computer science to address complex social and organizational problems. Her specific research areas are dynamic network analysis, computational social and organization theory, adaptation and evolution, text mining, the impact of telecommunication technologies and policy on communication, information diffusion, and disease contagion and response within and among groups particularly in disaster or crisis situations.

Carley and her lab have developed infrastructure tools for analyzing large-scale dynamic networks and various multi-agent simulation systems. The infrastructure tools include ORA, a statistical toolkit for analyzing and visualizing multi-dimensional networks. ORA results are organized into reports that meet various needs such as the management report, the mental model report, and the intelligence report. Another tool is AutoMap, a text-mining system for extracting semantic networks from texts and then cross-classifying them using an organizational ontology into the underlying social, knowledge, resource, and task networks. Her simulation models meld multi-agent technology with network dynamics and empirical data. Three of the large-scale multi-agent network models she and the CASOS group have developed in the counter-terrorism area are: BioWar a city-scale dynamic-network agent-based model for understanding the spread of disease and illness due to natural epidemics, chemical spills, and weaponized biological attacks; DyNet a model of the change in covert networks, naturally and in response to attacks, under varying levels of information uncertainty; and RTE, a model for examining state failure and the escalation of conflict at the city, state, nation, and international as changes occur within and among red, blue, and green forces.

Carley is the director of the center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS), which has more than 25 members, both students and research staff. She is the founding co-editor with Al Wallace of the journal Computational Organization Theory and has co-edited several books in the computational organizations and dynamic network area.

Office
5130 Wean Hall
Phone
412.268.6016
Email
kathleen.carley@cs.cmu.edu
Google Scholar
Kathleen Carley
Websites
Kathleen Carley's website

Bots, trolls, and how to safely navigate social media in 2020

Education

1984 Ph.D., Sociology, Harvard University

1979 BS, Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Affiliations

Media mentions


WIRED

Carley’s work on bot detection featured in WIRED

Kathleen Carley, professor in CMU’s Software and Societal Systems Department, spoke to WIRED about her research, which has led to several bot detection tools, including BotHunter and BotBuster.

CNN

Carley interviewed on CNN on bots on social media

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley was interviewed on CNN’s Early Start program for her expertise on social media bots and their impact on information circulation.

The Guardian

Carley quoted on “bot holiday”

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley was quoted in The Guardian on the lack of bot activity in spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

DW

Carley research on fake social media accounts featured

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley research on fake social media accounts, bots, and trolls was featured in DW.

Public Source

Carley quoted on online radicalization

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted on Public Source about online radicalization.

Yahoo

Carley quoted on disinformation

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted on Yahoo about online disinformation and misinformation.

Yahoo

Carley quoted about Parler social media

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted on Yahoo about the social media platform Parler that has faced backlash after it was tied to the insurrection at the US Capitol.

Forbes

Carley cited on social media bots

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley’s research on social media bots was mentioned in Forbes.

The Christian Science Monitor

Carley quoted on correcting misinformation

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted in The Christian Science Monitor on how to debunk misinformation online.

The Hill

Tweet misinformation study cited in op-ed

A recent study about misinformation on Twitter discussing COVID-19, co-authored by CyLab’s Kathleen Carley, was cited in an opinion article in The Hill.

NPR

Carley on Twitter bots messaging about COVID-19

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was interviewed by NPR about a recent Carnegie Mellon study, which found that nearly half of the messages on Twitter about the COVID-19 pandemic were posted by bots.

WESA

Hong and Carley on contact tracing apps

CyLab’s Jason Hong and Kathleen Carley were quoted by WESA discussing the pros and cons of contact tracing apps to investigate cases of COVID-19.