Social Identity and AI: From Diversity to Intersectionality

Our next CHIA Seminar features Dr Katie Seaborn, who will explore how social identities shape the design of AI-powered agents and the ways people perceive and interact with them.

Chatbots and social robots are often designed and understood in humanlike ways, drawing on the mental models we use to understand ourselves and one another.

Katie will examine how diverse and intersecting social identities become embedded in these agents, consciously or otherwise, and why this matters for human–agent interaction.

Drawing largely on case studies from Japan, where she was based for eight years, she will explore how cultural and linguistic differences can inspire reflection and innovation in AI research and design.

When: Thursday 19 November 2026, 1–2 pm
Where: Seminar Room C, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX

Talk followed by an informal chat.

Speaker

Dr Katie Seaborn – Associate Professor in Human–Computer Interaction in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, Associate Fellow at CHIA, and Visiting Associate Professor at Institute of Science Tokyo. Katie directs the Aspirational Computing Lab, established in Tokyo in 2020. Before entering academia, she worked as an interaction designer, user experience developer and web programmer in Canada and the UK.

We look forward to seeing you.