About Ari
Ari Schlesinger is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Georgia (UGA). She is also the director of the Socially Responsible Tech Lab.
Ari investigates the ways social issues become encoded in technical ecosystems to promote socially-responsible computing. The long-term goal is to facilitate initiatives that reduce computing-enabled harm and advance more just sociotechnical systems. Ari’s research has applications in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Computer Science (CS) broadly.
Ari has a PhD from the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Human-Centered Computing (HCC). She is also a member of the ACM’s U.S. Technology Policy Committee.
Research Interests
Computers don’t exist without humans. How does computing include humanity? From user interface design to software engineering to computer science classrooms, my research agenda is focused on socially engaged computation to effect equitable social change and technological advancement. Too many things in this world have discrimination built into their code. We can do better.
As a researcher, I create capacity for advancing socially responsible sociotechnical systems and addressing the challenges that make responsibility hard in practice. My research aims to 1) understand why these sociotechnical problems persist in computing, 2) develop strategies to address persistent sociotechnical problems in computing, and 3) advance practices that produce socially responsible sociotechnical systems.
From specific lines of code to abstract structures of theory, we can work together to develop more just futures.
To learn more about where I've been, check out my bio or my CV (PDF).
News
Updated less frequently than it should be…
08.01.23 Hello Athens! I’m officially joining the School of Computing at the University of Georgia as an Assistant Professor. Can’t wait to see what comes next at UGA.
07.28.23 Good news everyone. I’ve successfully defended my PhD dissertation :D
10.10.22 I’m on the academic job market!
06.28.22 I’m ABD. Excited to keep working on my dissertation, Computing’s Discrimination Problem, with the support of my wonderful committee: Annie I. Antón, Rosa Arriaga, Andrea Grimes Parker, Ben Wiedermann, and Alex Taylor.
04.07.22 A paper I worked on with has been published at CSCW. Check out ImageDEPO: Towards Gradual Decentralization of Online Social Networks using Decentralized Privacy Overlays
03.30.21 I received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award from the College of Computing at Georgia Tech! Wow :D Thanks to everyone who helped make that class such a great environment, I really enjoyed working with all of you.
01.20.20 Heading to Virginia to Participate in and Speak at the NSF/NSERC Workshop on Inclusive and Intersectional Research and Analysis in Engineering and Computer Science in early Februrary
09.03.19 Interested in Racial Bias in Natural Language Processing? Check out Oxford Insights Report I contributed to, published in August, 2019.
05.03.19 Good news, I’m participating on a panel at McMaster University as part of the first Center for Networked Media and Performance (CNMAP) Symposium. More good news: there’s a live stream, so you can download the program and join in on the fun!
07.28.18 Excited to announce I'm a finalist for this year's GVU Foley Scholars. It's an honor to be recognized alongside my amazing colleagues.
06.13.18 Come see me talk in St. Louis this year at PWLConf on September 26 2018, the day before Strange Loop (where I'll be hanging out for a few days).
04.03.18 HCIC (Human Computer Interaction Consortium) here I come. I've been accepted to participate in this year's HCIC focused on Human-Computer Interaction + AI.
02.12.18 Look out for the Georgia Tech Women's Leadership Conference, Saturday, March 10, 2018, where I'll be moderating the Women in Tech Panel.
02.09.18 I've received a Best Paper Award for my forthcoming CHI 2018 paper, "Let's Talk About Race: Identity, Chatbots, and AI", written by me, Kenton O'Hara, and Alex Taylor.
12.11.17 The paper I wrote with Kenton O'Hara and Alex Taylor has been conditionally accepted to CHI 2018—"Let's Talk About Race: Identity, Chatbots, and AI".