Ari Melenciano is an artist and researcher whose practice investigates cultural behavior as an emergent cybernetic field. 

She has taught courses in new media technologies, design, critical theory, and culture across New York University, the Pratt Institute, Hunter College, Parsons School of Design, University of Maryland, and Rutgers University. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Venice Biennale, Sundance Film Festival, and the Museum of the Future in Dubai.  And, she is the founder of Afrotectopia, a pioneering social institution that cultivates and expands Black imagination and culture at the nexus of art, design, and technology. Afrotectopia has taken the form of festivals, think tanks, an international fellowship, multi-university incubator, and speculative design book publisher. 

Previously, she worked as a creative technologist at Google’s Creative Lab, where she contributed to projects ranging from machine learning on fingertip-scale hardware to creative direction for the Google for Africa campaign, and generative AI research strategy.