Photo of Marissa Kumar Gerchick

Marissa Kumar Gerchick (she/her)

building technology, policy & research towards AI accountability

I am a public interest technologist focused on artificial intelligence (AI) systems and accountability. I am currently a Data Science Manager and Algorithmic Justice Specialist at the ACLU and an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. You can find my academic research here and more of my writing here and here.

I am currently writing my first book, an exploration of how AI is impacting women's sports, under contract with the University of California Press as part of the Co-Opting AI Series. If you are thinking about or working at the intersection of these topics, please reach out!

About Me

I am a public interest technologist, data scientist, and researcher focused on accountability in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. I am currently a Data Science Manager and Algorithmic Justice Specialist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where my work focuses on the civil rights implications of AI and automated systems. I also regularly publish and present original research on the impacts of algorithmic systems, and am an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. I am currently writing my first book, an exploration of how AI is impacting women's sports, under contract with the University of California Press as part of the Co-Opting AI Series. If you are thinking about or working at the intersection of these topics, please reach out!

Previously, I was an Assembly Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center's Institute for Rebooting Social Media where I built term tabs, a tool for querying definitions of tech-related terms in social media legislation introduced in Congress. Before that, I was a Technology Fellow in the U.S. Senate, where I worked on AI policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee Antitrust Subcommittee through the TechCongress fellowship program. I also spent time at HuggingFace working for Dr. Margaret Mitchell, where I focused on building and improving model cards for machine learning models, and was previously a data scientist at the Stanford Computational Policy Lab. I hold an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering (Computational Social Science) and a B.S. in Mathematical and Computational Science, both from Stanford University.

You can find my research here and more of my writing at Tech Policy Press and ACLU.org.

Selected Talks & Travel

  • [November 2025] Invited participant in symposium on AI Measurement, What Are We Measuring in AI Systems? at Stanford University, hosted by Schmidt Sciences, the MacArthur Foundation, Stanford University, MIT, and Cornell Tech
  • [November 2025] Panel discussion on tech policy research in civil society with Center for Democracy & Technology, Data & Society, and independent researchers
  • [October 2025] Guest Lecture in Professor Allison Koenecke’s Cornell Tech Algorithmic Fairness Seminar
  • [July 2025] Host of ACLU AI Summit Panel on Racial Justice & AI
  • [June 2025] Paper talk about new work on AI auditing (which received an Honorable Mention for best paper!) and tutorial on ACLU’s generative AI work at FAccT 2025
  • [April 2025] Guest lecture on ethics in the design of AI systems in Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Pennsylvania, taught by Professor Andrew Head
  • [March 2025] Lightning talk on redefining technical expertise for TechCongress 10th Anniversary Summit
  • [March 2025] Presentation on Computational Analysis of AI Policy at Workshop on AI for Public Missions, AAAI 2025
  • [November 2024] Talk on breaking into public interest technology at New America's Public Interest Technology-University Network Convening
  • [November 2024] Guest lecture on case studies of AI auditing in Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Pennsylvania, taught by Professor Danaé Metaxa
  • [October 2024] Guest lecture on AI auditing in NYU Law & Technology Policy Clinic
  • [July 2024] Presentations at the ACLU's National Advocacy Institute about AI and civil rights and Know Your Digital Rights workshop at the Brooklyn Public Library
  • [June 2024] Invited participant in Bridging Prediction and Intervention Problems in Social Systems, a 5-day workshop at the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery
  • [May 2024] Panelist for careers panel in Introduction to Applied Statistics at Stanford University, taught by Josh Grossman
  • [March 2024] Guest lecture on AI and hiring with Olga Akselrod in Practical Principles for Designing Fair Algorithms at Cornell University, taught by Professors Emma Pierson and Allison Koenecke
  • [February 2024] Talk and participation in Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Carceral AI at the University of Pittsburgh
  • [June 2023] Paper presentation on research auditing algorithms used in the child welfare system at FAccT 2023. This work was covered by the Associated Press and later recognized in the Aspen Institute's 2023 Reporting on AI Hall of Fame.