PRISM Lab

Leveraging Technology for Positive Change

The PRISM (People, Resilience, Intelligence, Systems, Meaning) Lab is a collaborative interdisciplinary research and innovation lab exploring how innovative technologies can drive meaningful transformation. Led by Professor Umar Ruhi, we explore the human, organizational, and societal dimensions of digital innovation – bridging the gap between technological capability and positive impact.

While artificial intelligence represents a major focus of our current work, our research framework applies to emerging technologies across domains. We ask fundamental questions: How can technology enhance human capability? How do organizations adapt and thrive amid digital disruption? How do we govern innovation responsibly? Our goal is to ensure that technological advancement serves human flourishing.

Our research bridges theory and practice – drawing on perspectives from information systems, human-computer interaction, cybersecurity, AI governance, and digital education. The Lab provides a collaborative environment for graduate students, researchers, and industry partners to investigate critical issues at the intersection of technology, organizations, and society.

PRISM Lab - People, Resilience, Intelligence, Systems, Meaning framework visualization

What is PRISM?

PRISM stands for People, Resilience, Intelligence, Systems, and Meaning – five interconnected pillars that frame our approach to understanding and shaping digital transformation.

How do humans and intelligent systems collaborate effectively? We study interaction patterns, trust dynamics, and the psychological dimensions of working with technology. Our research helps organizations design human-technology partnerships that enhance rather than diminish human capability and well-being. Current work emphasizes human-AI collaboration, examining when and how these partnerships create genuine synergy.

How do individuals and organizations not just survive but grow stronger through digital challenges? We investigate adaptive mindsets, organizational learning, cybersecurity, and defenses against information threats. Our research examines resilience at multiple levels – from individual psychological adaptation in human-AI collaboration to organizational strategies for thriving amid uncertainty. We focus on building capacity that doesn't merely bounce back from disruption but emerges stronger and more capable.

How do we govern emerging technologies responsibly while fostering innovation? We develop frameworks for technology governance, create educational approaches for digital literacy, and analyze how narratives shape public understanding of innovation. Our research informs policy, practice, and education across domains, with current emphasis on AI governance, AI literacy, and narrative intelligence in the context of rapidly evolving intelligent systems.

How do digital technologies diffuse through organizations and ecosystems? We examine technology adoption patterns, platform dynamics, and the evolution of digital ecosystems. Our work helps organizations navigate digital transformation and implement enterprise systems effectively.

How do humans make sense of complex technological systems and their outputs? We study explainability, interpretability, and the narratives people construct to understand innovation. Our research ensures technological systems remain comprehensible and accountable to the humans they serve, with particular focus on making AI systems transparent and interpretable.

Why PRISM?

Integrated, not Isolated

Most research approaches treat technological, social, and organizational dimensions separately. PRISM integrates all five perspectives, recognizing that technology's real-world impact emerges from complex interactions among people, systems, governance structures, resilience capabilities, and sense-making processes.

Cross-cutting Research Agenda

Our research domains and technology applications deliberately span multiple PRISM pillars. This cross-cutting approach enables us to address complex questions that single-discipline research cannot answer – investigating how governance shapes adoption, how resilience depends on sense-making, how systems affect human experience, and how meaning influences organizational transformation.

Theory Meets Practice

We combine rigorous academic research with practical impact. Our behavioral science investigations explain how and why people and organizations respond to technological innovation, while our design science work creates frameworks, tools, and systems that can be implemented in real-world contexts.

Transformation Through Technology

We focus on technologies that have transformative potential – not technology for its own sake, but innovations that can meaningfully improve human capability, organizational effectiveness, and societal well-being. Our current portfolio emphasizes AI and emerging technologies while maintaining applicability to future innovations.

Our Current Research Domains

Our current research portfolio emphasizes the following domains, with particular focus on AI and emerging technologies:

Human-AI Collaboration

Understanding when and how humans and intelligent systems work best together, from healthcare settings to knowledge work

AI Governance

Developing responsible AI frameworks that balance innovation, safety, ethics, and accountability

AI Literacy

Creating educational approaches that empower people to understand, evaluate, and use AI effectively

Narrative Intelligence

Analyzing how stories shape technology adoption, spread disinformation, and influence public discourse

Disinformation Security

Building individual and organizational resilience against information threats and narrative attacks, developing adaptive capacity to recognize and counter misinformation

Consumer Health Informatics

Designing patient-centered health information systems that enhance care quality and patient engagement

Knowledge Management

Improving how organizations capture, share, and leverage collective knowledge in digital environments

Technology Focus Areas

Our research investigates the socio-technical dimensions of emerging technologies, with recent work examining:

Generative AI

for collaboration, content creation, and decision support

Natural Language Processing

for narrative analysis and misinformation detection

Blockchain Registries

for transparent governance and secure distributed systems

AI Medical Scribes

for clinical documentation and physician support

Social Media Analytics

for understanding information spread and influence

Personal Health Records & Patient Portals

for patient empowerment

Research Approach

We employ both behavioral science (understanding phenomena) and design science (creating solutions) paradigms:

Behavioral Science

Surveys, interviews, focus groups, and case studies investigating how people and organizations respond to technological innovation, adopt new systems, and make sense of digital transformation.

Design Science

Creating artifacts including governance frameworks, literacy curricula, collaboration protocols, security and detection systems, and novel technological mechanisms for organizational transformation.

Engagement and Opportunities

The PRISM Lab serves as both a research group and an experiential learning hub for graduate students and collaborators. Students under Professor Ruhi's supervision engage in hands-on research, applied projects, and publications in areas such as Human-AI collaboration, AI literacy, Cybersecurity, AI governance, Digital pedagogy, Narrative intelligence, and Digital disinformation.

The Lab also partners with organizations and public institutions to translate academic insights into practice through consulting engagements, corporate training, and co-developed research initiatives.

Prospective students, researchers, and partners interested in contributing to ongoing projects or developing new collaborations are welcome to connect with Professor Ruhi.