AI Natives
The average generative AI user spends about an hour a day with it. The top one percent spends more than ten. If you are in that one percent, or close to it, you already know. You have never known your work, your study, or your creative life without AI.
The Sawyer AI Natives Laboratory is not a classroom, and it is not a traditional research lab. It is a real-world accelerator, built as a direct pipeline into industry, government, and research organizations. An outgrowth of The Readability Consortium at UCF, the lab extends TRC’s work on human-AI communication, interface design, and readability into hands-on territory. You will work on live projects funded by outside partners, not on exercises invented for a syllabus. Focus areas include generative AI applications, human-aware interface design, multimodal communication, and transparency and trust in AI-mediated systems. Twice a year, at AI Demo Day, you present what you have built to the outside world.
Admission is based on evidence of independent work with AI, not on your program or major alone. You get access to cutting-edge hardware and software, and to mentorship from faculty and partners across industry and government. In return, you mentor us. The future you are about to build is one we are still learning to see, and the lab is structured around that exchange.
Volunteer, work-study, and fellowship positions are open now. If this sounds like you, apply.
Applications
Volunteers
Volunteers work with lab members and assist with a variety of laboratory tasks and projects. They may assist with project setup, data collection, coding, etc. depending on the needs of the lab at the time. They may be given a Statement of Work for a project that they are in charge of completing during the semester.
Fellowships
Fellowship positions are where an individual proposes a project. Project proposals need an attached budget (maximum $500) that the lab may fund. Chosen fellows will spend time over a semester to bring the project to completion and will be featured in the lab, on social media, etc.
Workstudy
Students who are eligible for the Federal Work-Study program can apply to work in our laboratory. Work-Study students are often given a Statement of Work for a project that they are in charge of completing during the semester. Work-Study students can work a maximum of 20 hours per week at positions with UCF. Work-Study students may also assist with a variety of laboratory tasks and projects depending on the needs of the lab at the time.
Applications for Work-Study positions coming soon.