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Upcoming Events

Past Events

Welcome to Michaelmas 2026 at CHIA

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26-10-14 CHIA Seminar_P Harrison_H Lee 3

What can AI and large-scale behavioural data reveal about music and its role in society? Join Professor Peter Harrison and Dr Harin Lee as we open this term’s CHIA Seminar Series.

<h3>Music, Computation and Cognition</h3>
We are opening this term’s CHIA Seminar Series with Music, Computation and Cognition, featuring Professor Peter Harrison and Dr Harin Lee from the University of Cambridge.
Peter and Harin will introduce their ongoing research programmes at the Centre for Music and Science, combining large-scale studies of human behaviour with AI models to simulate music perception, analyse musical structure and study the social dynamics of music across the world.
When: Wednesday 14 October 2026, 6–7 pm 
Where: Seminar Room C, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX
Speakers
<a href="https://cms.mus.cam.ac.uk/people/peter-harrison/">Professor Peter Harrison</a> – Associate Professor, University of Cambridge
<a href="https://harinlee.info/">Dr Harin Lee</a> – Junior Research Fellow, University of Cambridge
The seminar will be followed by a pub social – an opportunity to continue the conversation and get to know one another. We look forward to seeing you.

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CHIA Early Career Community is hosting the Lunchtime Fireside Chat: AI in Education and Human Flourishing

<h2>Lunchtime Fireside Chat: AI in Education and Human Flourishing</h2>
<h3>4 June 2026</h3>
A lunchtime fireside chat was hosted by the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) Early Career Community, in collaboration with the AI &amp; Education Community. The event featured Carla Aerts, Dr Emily Goodacre, and Dr Minja Axelsson, who explored the intersection of AI, education, and psychology.
Following the talks and discussion, attendees are invited to continue the conversation over a complimentary light lunch.
When: Thursday, 4 June 
Time: 12:30–1:30 PM 
Where: Seminar Room C, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge
Carla Aerts: A leading international interdisciplinarian at the intersection of education and emerging technologies, Carla is reshaping how we think about learning futures informed by insights from the science of learning, learning sciences and the odd sprinkle of philosophy. 
She has extensive experience working with stakeholders from policy to learners on the use of AI and technologies in education and learning, as well as considering the futures of education and the necessary strategies that are required for rethinking what education might look like.
As a sought-after speaker, consultant, and mentor, Carla works with universities, schools, policy, consultancies, foundations, publishers, NGOs, startups and learning organizations navigating seismic shifts in learning and teaching. She&#8217;s fascinated by the arrival of new forms of (artificial) intelligence into human experience and what that means for humanity’s future. (Her blog:  www.trainofthought.me)
Dr Emily Goodacre: Dr Emily Goodacre Is a postdoctoral researcher in child development and AI play. Her recent research with PEDAL at the University of Cambridge examined children’s play with generative AI toys, exploring both perceptions of AI toys and how children aged five and under play with them. Her research takes a developmentally-informed approach to understand the implications of AI toys and inform best practices in toy design. Her work and resulting recommendations for practice and policy have received international recognition through several media outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian.
Dr Minja Axelsson: Dr Minja Axelsson is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and a Teaching Fellow at the University of Cambridge. She specialises in the ethical design of social robots and is interested in the design, ethics, user perceptions and experiences, and socio-technical perspectives of human–AI and human–robot interaction. Her work has been featured in several publications, including the BBC, which covered her research on social robots as mental wellbeing coaches.

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ECC Easter Term Card 2025-2026

Please join CHIA&#8217;s Early Career Community for these events during Easter term.

<h3>CHIA Early Career Community Easter Term Card</h3>
We look forward to seeing you at these exciting events this term!
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-3116" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Easter-Term-Card-2025-2026.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1444" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Easter-Term-Card-2025-2026.jpg 1108w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Easter-Term-Card-2025-2026-1064x1536.jpg 1064w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Easter-Term-Card-2025-2026-831x1200.jpg 831w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />

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ECC Seminar (3)

Please join us on 7 May for a discussion between Professor Lili Jia and Dr Miri Zilka.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-3109" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Seminar-3.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="563" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Seminar-3.jpg 1920w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Seminar-3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/ECC-Seminar-3-1200x675.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
CHIA ECC is hosting a panel discussion between Professor Lili Jia (CHIA) and Dr Miri Zilka (University of Cambridge) titled, “Carbon Footprint to Social Impact: Rethinking AI Responsibility.” 
The event is a discussion on the intersection of responsible AI and sustainable AI, featuring talks by both Professor Jia and Dr Zilka, followed by a panel discussion. All attendees are invited to continue the conversation over lunch at King’s following the event.
When: Thursday, 7 May
Time: 11:00am
Where: King’s College, Provost’s Drawing Room
Dr Miri Zilka Bio: I am an Assistant Professor in Responsible Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge. I specialised in ethical, human-centric, and trustworthy AI for high-stakes domains, such as criminal justice and social care, where algorithmic predictions have life-changing consequences, individuals cannot opt out, and protective legislation (e.g., GDPR) does not apply.
Previously, I was a Leverhulme Research Fellow in the Machine Learning Group at the University of Cambridge, a College Research Associate at King’s College, Cambridge, and an Associate Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. 
Before Cambridge, I was a Research Fellow in Machine Learning at the University of Sussex, focusing on fairness, equality, and access. I obtained a PhD in Analytical Science (Physics) from the University of Warwick, hold an M.Sc. in Physics, and a dual B.Sc. in Physics and Biology from Tel Aviv University.
Professor Lili Jia Bio: Professor Lili Jia is a Research Professor in Sustainable Economy at the University of Cambridge, where she leads the Sustainable Innovation Lab at the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) and an internal visitor at Institute for Manufacturing (IfM). Her work is uniquely positioned at the intersection of AI applications, behavioural science, environmental science, and engineering aiming to discover real-world pathways to a sustainable future.
Professor Jia’s lab focuses on designing actionable transition pathways that function in real operating environments. Her team combines systems methodologies with emerging technologies—including AI-enabled analytics and digital traceability—to help decision-makers transform global production and consumption systems. Her work on &#8220;green warm-glow&#8221; and plastic pollution mitigation has been featured in leading journals like Nature Communications and the Harvard Business Review. Her research has been instrumental in advancing value-based solutions that motivate large-scale sustainability transitions beyond mere legal compliance.
An influential figure in both academia and policy, Professor Jia has secured over £2.7 million in research grants since 2017 and has been awarded Fellowships from both the Social Research Council (ESRC) and Engineering &amp; Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Her research findings provide critical scientific evidence for policy development, supporting government bodies such as the Environment Agency, the Department for Environment Food &amp; Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

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CHIA Seminar Series - Nikos Aletras

CHIA hosted Dr Nikos Aletras to speak as part of its ongoing CHIA Seminar Series.

<h3>CHIA Seminar Series: Dr Nikos Aletras</h3>
24 April 2026
On Friday, 24 April, CHIA was pleased to welcome Dr Nikos Aletras, a Professor of Natural Language Processing at the University of Sheffield, to speak on the topic of how to bridge the gap between &#8220;human&#8221; and &#8220;machine&#8221; learning. Thank you for your visit, Dr Aletras!
Nikos Aletras is a Professor of Natural Language Processing (NLP), currently leading the NLP group at the School of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. His research focus is in developing data and resource efficient methods for language modelling, model interpretability, and applications of language technology in computational social science and law. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-3104" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/IMG_9185-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/IMG_9185-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/IMG_9185-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/IMG_9185-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/04/IMG_9185-1200x900.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />

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CHIA Seminar Series - Patricia Paskov

Please join us for the CHIA Seminar Series featuring a talk on RCTs and frontier AI by RAND&#8217;s Patricia Paskov.

<h3>CHIA Seminar Series &#8211; Patricia Paskov</h3>
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CHIA will be hosting Patricia Paskov on Friday, 13 March at 3:00pm in ARB S2 for a talk titled, &#8220;RCTs Meet Frontier AI: Why Human Uplift Studies Are Hard and What We Can Do About It.&#8221; Patricia is a Fellow at the RAND Centre for AI, Security, and Technology, and a Research Affiliate at the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative.
Talk description: Human uplift studies — studies that measure AI&#8217;s effects on human performance using randomized controlled trial methodology — are increasingly used to inform deployment, governance, and safety decisions for frontier AI systems. While the methods underlying these studies are well-established, their interaction with the distinctive properties of frontier AI creates underexamined challenges: rapidly evolving models, shifting baselines, heterogeneous user proficiency, and porous real-world settings all strain core assumptions of causal inference. Drawing on interviews with 16 expert practitioners across biosecurity, cybersecurity, education, and labor, this talk synthesizes methodological challenges across the research lifecycle, maps them to threats to construct, internal, and external validity, and presents practical solutions, clarifying both the limits and appropriate uses of uplift evidence in high-stakes decision-making.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2994" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/03/CHIA-Seminar-Series-Patricia-Paskov.png" alt="" width="1000" height="707" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/03/CHIA-Seminar-Series-Patricia-Paskov.png 2245w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/03/CHIA-Seminar-Series-Patricia-Paskov-1536x1086.png 1536w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/03/CHIA-Seminar-Series-Patricia-Paskov-2048x1448.png 2048w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/03/CHIA-Seminar-Series-Patricia-Paskov-1200x848.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />

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Seminar 18 Feb

Dr Danqing Shi, a postdoctoral research associate in machine learning at the University of Cambridge, will give a talk about gaze behaviour in human-computer/AI interaction.
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<h2>Seminar: Understanding Gaze Behaviour in Human-Computer/AI Interaction</h2>
<h3>18 February 2026</h3>
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<div>Dr Danqing Shi, a postdoctoral research associate in machine learning at the University of Cambridge, will give a talk about gaze behaviour in human-computer/AI interaction.</div>
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<div>Visual information is the primary and most efficient type of data collected and processed by humans during daily interactive tasks, which significantly affects task performance. Therefore, human gaze behavior offers valuable insights for researchers studying how people interact with computers and AI. This talk will discuss three projects focused on understanding human gaze behavior: eye-hand coordination, reasoning during information viewing, and identification of AI-generated content. The goal of the talk is to demonstrate how to learn from empirical human eye-tracking data and to inform modelling approaches that explain human strategies.</div>
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<div>Danqing Shi is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge. He will join Lund University as an Assistant Professor in 2026. His research interests include human-AI interaction, human-computer interaction, and visualisation. Before joining Cambridge, he received his PhD from Tongji University and worked at Finnish Center for AI, Aalto University, and a visiting scholar at ETH Zurich. His work received several paper awards, including Best Paper Honourable Mentions at ACM CHI 2025, ACM CHI 2024, and IEEE PacificVis 2024. More information about his research can be found <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsdq.github.io%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cos504%40universityofcambridgecloud.onmicrosoft.com%7C5ade58b93ac143bb137e08de6af7d3ca%7C49a50445bdfa4b79ade3547b4f3986e9%7C1%7C0%7C639065809878364616%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=kvir1BebmlY3iPipHdC7nfwlfHmHX2nh0VGDaAAcKLE%3D&amp;reserved=0">here</a>.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2931" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/02/ECC_seminar_180226_3.png" alt="" width="1000" height="565" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/02/ECC_seminar_180226_3.png 1842w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/02/ECC_seminar_180226_3-1536x867.png 1536w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/02/ECC_seminar_180226_3-1200x678.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></div>
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Lab to Launch

On 9 February, CHIA&#8217;s Early Career Community hosted a moderated panel on how to set up a start-up.

<h2>Panel Discussion: From Lab to Launch</h2>
<h3>9 February 2026</h3>
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CHIA&#8217;s Early Career Community hosted a panel discussion about launching a start-up, where the audience heard from four exceptional panellists who have navigated the journey from academic research to entrepreneurship and industry impact. 
Panellists included:
 Zuzanna Kossobudzka &#8211; Co-Founder at Proximo Ventures. Zuzanna Kossobudzka is a quantum physicist turned founder and deep-tech investor with experience across climate, industrial, and quantum technologies. She built an award-winning wearables company and supported Series A investment in green hydrogen. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering.  
Nigel Collier &#8211; Co-Founder at Trismik. Nigel Collier is Professor of Natural Language Processing at the University of Cambridge and Chief Scientist of Trismik. His work focuses on creating better AI systems with an emphasis on uncertainty, personalisation, and adversarial assessment of model behaviour.
Chen Ye &#8211; AI and Business Innovator. Chen Ye has 12 years of experience in industrial automation and intelligence across China, Africa, and the United States. His PhD research at Cambridge focuses on digital transformation and how AI and ML can reshape business models to improve performance and productivity in manufacturing. Chen has obtained 20 patents and received 2 industry awards.
Alva Markelius &#8211; Ex-EthicAI. Alva Markelius is a Cambridge Trust Scholar researching the ethics of social AI and robotics, specifically at the intersection of embodied robotics and large language models. She co-founded EthicAI, and was nominated as one of the Top 100 Women in AI Ethics 2024.
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Advertisement 6 Feb

On 6 February, CHIA hosted Dr Poppy Mallinson, Assistant Professor at London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, and Professor Sanjay Kinra, Professor at London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, for a seminar on the global health applications of AI.

<h3>CHIA Seminar: Aligning AI Models for Global Health Applications</h3>
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On 6 February, CHIA hosted Dr Poppy Mallinson, Assistant Professor at London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, and Professor Sanjay Kinra, Professor at London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, for a seminar on the global health applications of AI. AI models often struggle to perform reliably across different populations and health systems, limiting their impact in global health. Dr Mallinson and Professor Kinra presented work from the AI in Global Health and Health Care group at the London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, focused on contextual alignment—ensuring AI models are effective and fair across diverse real-world settings, with particular consideration of resource constraints and scalability. They shared some examples from completed research and outlined their planned studies highlighting open challenges and opportunities for collaboration in developing context-aware AI for global health.
Sanjay Kinra is a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, where he leads the AI in Global Health and Health Care research group. His work focuses on the contextual alignment of generative and predictive AI models for real-world global health and healthcare applications. He co-directs a cohort study in India that longitudinally tracks the health and lifestyles of &gt;5,000 individuals using integrated clinical and digital data and have led multiple clinical trials of technology-enabled behavioural interventions.
Poppy Mallinson is a non-communicable disease (NCD) epidemiologist interested in applying data science approaches to advance understanding of the aetiology and prevention of NCDs in underserved populations. Her ongoing research projects in this area include use of AI for improved NCD diagnostics (e.g. metabolic diseases in rural/remote settings India), screening (e.g., diabetes complications in South Asian populations) and management (e.g. overweight in Thailand).

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Bridgemas Dinner 2025

<h3>CHIA Bridgemas 2025</h3>
On November 26, 2025, CHIA hosted its first-annual &#8220;Bridgemas&#8221; dinner celebration at Magdalene College. The term &#8220;Bridgemas&#8221; stems from the fact that the Cambridge Michaelmas terms ends in late November, so Cambridge begins celebrating the festive season early in order to allow students, faculty, and staff to participate in seasonal celebrations. We hosted 60 CHIA students, academics, steering committee members, and staff for a formal dinner in Magdalene College Hall, which gave attendees the opportunity to celebrate the end of term and beginning of the festive season together.

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Events_Welcome_Website

Explore our seminars, socials and Early Career Community events, and find your next opportunity to join in.

<h3>Welcome to a New Term at CHIA!</h3>
A very warm welcome to our new MPhil cohort, fellow postgraduate students and colleagues joining CHIA this term – and welcome back to everyone returning! We are looking forward to getting to know our newest members and bringing the community together again.
CHIA and the Early Career Community (ECC) have a varied programme of events and socials planned for the term, including our joint CHIA Seminar Series. There will be plenty of opportunities to explore new ideas, share your interests and connect with people from across the community.
Beyond the seminars, we invite CHIA students and staff to join us for CHIA Welcome Drinks, our weekly CHIA Brew and a festive CHIA Bridgemas dinner. The ECC is also bringing the community together with a welcome event, a research group kick-off, a lunchtime seminar and a Bridgemas celebration.
Whether you are finding your feet or catching up with familiar faces, we hope you will join us. Explore the events below – we look forward to seeing you!
Event details may change. Please check individual event listings and calendar invites for the latest information.

<h3>CHIA Seminar Series</h3>
Open to CHIA students, CHIA staff and the general public
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/10/Promo-Materials-Michaelmas-2026_Socials-and-Website-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1000" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3345" srcset="https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/10/Promo-Materials-Michaelmas-2026_Socials-and-Website-1-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/10/Promo-Materials-Michaelmas-2026_Socials-and-Website-1-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/10/Promo-Materials-Michaelmas-2026_Socials-and-Website-1-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://wp.chia.cam.ac.uk/app/uploads/2026/10/Promo-Materials-Michaelmas-2026_Socials-and-Website-1-960x1200.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />

<h3>Early Career Community (ECC) Events</h3>
Open to CHIA Early Careers Community
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<h3>CHIA Social Events</h3>
Open to CHIA students and CHIA staff
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Welcome to Michaelmas 2026 at CHIA

Upcoming Events

Music, Computation and Cognition

Past Events

CHIA Early Career Community: Lunchtime Fireside Chat

CHIA Early Career Community Term Card

CHIA ECC Panel Discussion: “Carbon Footprint to Social Impact: Rethinking AI Responsibility”

CHIA Seminar Series: Nikos Aletras

CHIA Seminar Series: Patricia Paskov

Seminar: Understanding Gaze Behaviour in Human-Computer/AI Interaction

Panel Discussion: From Lab to Launch

CHIA Seminar: Aligning AI Models for Global Health Applications

CHIA 2025 Bridgemas