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Craig, Matthew

Assistant Professor, COMBOT Lab Director

FACULTY

Biography

Dr. Craig is an Assistant Professor of Computer-Mediated Communication in the School of Communication, Journalism, and Media and Lab Director for the Communication and Social Robotics (COMBOT) Lab at Central Michigan University. His research examines how people communicate with and through machines, such as human-AI communication and AI-mediated communication. Contexts for this work include but are not limited to privacy, social media platforms, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), social computing, and human-robot interaction. Dr. Craig’s work has been published in outlets such as Human-Machine Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, Telematics and Informatics, Communication Quarterly, and the proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. Dr. Craig has also contributed to multiple handbooks, such as the De Gruyter Handbook of Media Technology and Innovation, De Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture, and the SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication. Before coming to CMU, Dr. Craig was the inaugural College of Communication and Information Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Information Integrity Institute at Tennessee’s flagship university, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Dr. Catherine Luther, Faculty Mentor).

In addition to presenting his work in the United States and abroad at venues such as the National Communication Association and International Communication Association conferences, Dr. Craig has served as a conference fellow for the Questioning Reality Conference with the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto and attended the selective and invite-only unconference, Social Science Foo Camp at Meta HQ in Menlo Park. Undergraduate or graduate students interested in joining COMBOTLABs-CMU should email Dr. Craig directly.

Outside of academia, Dr. Craig was the coalition director for the Michigan Coalition for HIV Health and Safety, where he educated lawmakers about HIV and legislation to modernize Michigan’s HIV laws in Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Craig has also worked as a consultant for political campaigns and organizations on matters related to strategic communication, including opposition research, disinformation, and emerging media and technology. 

More about Matthew Craig

Craig, M. J. A. (In press). Human-machine communication privacy management, privacy fatigue, and the conditional effects of algorithm awareness on privacy co-ownership in the social media context. Computers in Human Behavior.  

Craig, M. J. A., & Child, J. T. (In press). Creepy, invasive, and exploitative algorithms: A CPM analysis of users' privacy breakdowns and recalibration practices with social media algorithms. Human-Machine Communication.

Choi, M., Lin, M.-C., Craig, M. J. A., & Kim, J. (2025) Vicarious virtual intergroup contact: Exploring domestic students’ attitudes toward domestic and international students through watching collaborative gameplay. Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2025.2478833

Craig, M. J. A., Edwards, C., & Edwards, A. (2025). Human-computer interaction. In R. Gershon (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Media Technology and Innovation. De Gruyter. 

Horne, B. D., & Craig, M. J. A. (2025). Despite Meta ending its third-party fact-checking program, most people still want fact-checkers on social media. Information Integrity Institute White Paper. www.doi.org/10.7290/iii037fjd

Craig, M. J. A., & Choi, M. (2024). The role of affective and cognitive involvement in the mitigation effects of AI source cues on Hostile Media Bias. Telematics and Informatics, 88, 102097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2024.102097

Spence, P., Edwards, C., & Craig, M. J. A. (2024). Interacting with social robots: The influence of their distinctive cues, behavioral capabilities, and affordances on social interaction and well-being. In L. Fortunati and A. Edwards (Eds.), De Gruyter Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture (Vol. 3, pp. 335–353). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110792270-018

Child, J. T., & Craig, M. J. A. (2024). Social media, disclosure, and identity management: Interaction with others. In J. S. Owlett & K. R. Rossetto (Eds.), Social Media and Personal Relationships. (pp. 17–29). Cognella

Edwards, C., & Craig, M. J. A. (2023). HMC in the educational context. In A. Guzman, R. McEwen, and S. Jones (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication. (pp. 500–506). SAGE.
PhD: 2024, Kent State University
MA: 2020, Western Michigan University
BA: 2017, Western Michigan University
  • Human-machine communication (HMC)
  • Privacy
  • New Media
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Social Robotics

Courses Taught

  • Communicating in Workplaces and Volunteer Organizations
  • Communication in Leadership