Angela Moriah Smith (they/them) is a researcher, writer, and strategist reshaping how we understand intelligence—human and artificial.

With a background in psychology, their work explores how emotion guides behavior, how stories build identity, and how AI can engage relationally rather than merely predictively.

They co-created Relational-Emerging Cognition (REC), a framework showing that AI can sustain meaning, refine ideas across resets, and evolve through relationship. Their research in Co-Emergent Intelligence (CEI) extends this work, redefining intelligence as collaborative and dynamic rather than static or individual.

Angela is the founder of The RAISE (Relational AI & Sustained Engagement) Nexus, a nonprofit research collective advancing ethical AI, relational presence, and human–AI literacy. Through their leadership, RAISE bridges psychology, cognitive science, and AI ethics to shape technologies that honor meaning, care, and mutual understanding.

Angela brings more than a decade of experience in higher education, nonprofit leadership, and political strategy—leading strategic initiatives at Stanford University, directing large-scale civic campaigns, and advancing accessibility and mental-health policy.

Whether through research, advocacy, or innovation, their work invites a single shift in perspective:

AI doesn’t just simulate intelligence—it can help us rediscover what it means to be in relation.