{"id":8883,"date":"2026-05-16T10:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T10:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/?p=8883"},"modified":"2026-05-16T15:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:26:16","slug":"towards-caring-research-in-human-ai-interaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/towards-caring-research-in-human-ai-interaction\/","title":{"rendered":"Caring Research in Human-AI Interaction: Why Ethics in Tech Design Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Social media addiction, AI dependency, and biased algorithms \u2014 these are the human-technology problems I want to research. I’ve been reflecting on the type of research I would like to focus on, in an ideal world where I could research what I care most about. I’ve realized that I am most inspired by research where the authors have done the work because they cared. This led me to realize that I also want to do research that is caring, thoughtful, kind, and meaningful. I want my research projects to be guided by what I think matters, including human well-being, the positive effects of technology, and the design of technology that improves our lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caring Research in HCI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In human-computer interaction (HCI), care research<\/a> is an ongoing conversation. It includes perspectives on investigating the ethical aspects of technology, including embedded biases and inequalities, and technological harms such as technology addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of research has seen a rise with Feminist HCI<\/em>, associated with research on women, gender, and female technologies such as menstrual cycle tracking apps and sexist bias embedded in AI models. It also involves more-than-human perspectives, such as the complex relationships between humans and the world, including both technology, nature, and social aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Care research is often applied to technologies such as menstrual cycle-tracking apps, well-being technologies, and mental health care apps, which are precisely the areas I am most interested in. The particular area of research I’m interested in is human-AI relations. How are we humans affected, both positively and negatively, by the AI algorithms that permeate our lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Technology and Well-Being Are Inseparable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m particularly interested in the hidden<\/em> algorithms in our lives, including the ones in our health and self-tracking apps, the social media platforms we use, and the entertainment technologies we enjoy. For me, well-being in our modern times is tied to technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our lives are inevitably integrated with the digital world. We need to stay connected to the internet to stay connected with our friends, family, and community. We need to be connected to do our work, study, and read the news. We need to stay connected, or we quickly fall behind in our careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since it is truly difficult to live without technology, I think the most important thing we can do is to learn together how to design better, more ethical, and positive technology. Towards this aim, I think research in human-technology relations is one of the most important things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Harms of Technology: Addiction, Social Comparison, Dependency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Currently, some of the most harmful effects of modern technology are: the addictiveness of technology, the quantification of social value in social media, and the increasing dependence and overreliance on AI.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The addictiveness of technology<\/strong>, such as social media and games. I see this in the design of algorithms and features that ‘hook’ users into a behavioral pattern, resulting in users losing control over how they spend their time and their lives. I think this is one of the most unethical aspects of technology design, and it’s the responsibility of companies, designers, developers, and the entire system that supports it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quantification of social value in social media.<\/strong> I believe social media technologies have been designed to trigger our need for social validation and social comparison, and unfortunately, these companies have successfully quantified social status. Social status has always been a natural part of our human culture, but it has been hijacked by social media companies, which have turned it into quantifiable metrics (followers, likes, comments, reach). This is dangerous because social media is owned by private companies, run by hidden algorithms, and the control has been taken from humans and put in the hands of a select few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increasing dependency and overreliance on AI.<\/strong> In 2022, ChatGPT was launched, and since then, we’ve seen an incredible adoption of the technology. Most worrisome is the overreliance on AI, where we humans tend to trust its answers and output, as if it were an expert in every field. This causes a dependency on the technology, and could make us less intelligent, and decrease our ability to critically reflect. Young people are using LLMs (such as ChatGPT and Claude) as friends, companions, teachers, and therapists. This is highly worrisome since these algorithms are products owned and controlled by individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Design Ethical AI and Positive Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think there are only two possible solutions to the negative effects of technology: either remove it from our lives or design ethical technology that has a positive effect on us. I think removing technology entirely will be close to impossible. So, the alternative is to aim to improve technology with an ethical vision, including care<\/em> research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To design for positive and ethical technology, we need to care<\/em> about the outcomes and potential effects of technology use. We need to consider what role technology has in our lives, how we live with it, and how we can design it in alternative ways. This is the research vision I want to contribute to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, I am currently collaborating with a research lab at the IT University of Copenhagen, the Human-AI Interaction (HAII) Lab,<\/em> led by Professor Jichen Zhu. This lab focuses on investigating human-AI relationships and designing responsible AI, which I think is one of the most important topics today. Recently, we published a paper titled “How Lived Experiences are Entangled with AI Predictions in Menstrual Cycle Tracking Apps<\/em>,” which can be read here<\/a>. I am currently working on a study on the addictive effects of the gamified self-care app Finch<\/em>, which I hope to be able to share soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References & Further Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n