Kelly B. Wagman

Research

Research on AI and sociotechnical systems.

Research areas

Human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), feminist science and technology studies (STS)

Current projects

  1. Applications of Generative AI Within Scientific Organizations: Collaboration with Argonne National Lab. We look at how employees are using, or conceive of using, generative AI and their concerns surrounding privacy, security, and ethics. This work will have implications for generative AI at work in companies, universities, and public sector organizations. [Paper link - CHI25]

  2. Participatory AI Pipelines—A Climate Science Case Study: Collaboration with Argonne National Lab (CROCUS initiative), which is developing hyper-local climate AI models designed specifically for neighborhoods in Chicago. Using participatory methods, we are building a climate application with a Chicago community leveraging and contributing to the climate scientists’ models. [Block Club Chicago News, University of Chicago News, WBEZ interview]

  3. Older Adults’ Perceptions of Digital Voice Assistants for Preventative Health: Collaboration with University of Chicago Medicine. We are helping to design and test a conversational AI for exercise for older adults, including how participants socially relate to and trust voice AI.

Publications

  1. Wagman, K. B., Dearing, M. T. & Chetty, M. (2025). Generative AI Uses and Risks for Knowledge Workers in a Science Organization. To appear at CHI 2025. [Link]

  2. Wagman, K. B., Blinder, E., Song, K., Vignon, A., Dworkin, S., Clegg, T., Vitak, J. & Chetty, M. (2023). “We picked community over privacy”: Privacy and Security Concerns Emerging from Remote Learning Sociotechnical Infrastructure During COVID-19. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 7, CSCW2, Article 245. [Link]

  3. Maris, E.,* Wagman, K. B.,* Bergmann, R. & Bragg, D. (2023). Tech Worker Perspectives on Considering the Interpersonal Implications of Communication Technologies. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 7, GROUP, Article 16. (*denotes equal contribution) [Link]

  4. Wagman, K. B. and Lisa Parks. (2021). Beyond the Command: Feminist STS Research and Critical Issues for the Design of Social Machines. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 5, CSCW1, Article 101 (April 2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3449175 [Link]

  5. Baym, N. K., Wagman, K. B., & Persaud, C. J. (2020). Mindfully scrolling: Rethinking Facebook after time deactivated. Social Media + Society, 6(2), 2056305120919105. doi:10.1177/2056305120919105 [Link]

  6. Baym, N., Shifman, L., Persaud, C., & Wagman, K. B. (2019). Intelligent Failures: Clippy Memes and the Limits of Digital Assistants. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2019i0.10923 [Link]

Talks

  1. Participatory AI in Climate Science. Sony Ethical AI Speaker Series. Scheduled for March 2025.

  2. Participatory AI in Climate Science. UCLA Information Science Colloquium. February 2025.

  3. “We picked community over privacy:” Privacy and Security Concerns Emerging from Remote Learning Sociotechnical Infrastructure During COVID-19. CSCW. October 2023.

  4. Sociotechnical Thinking in Technology Design. University of Chicago Computer Science Master’s Thesis Presentation. May 2023.

  5. Gender, Power, and Technology. Guest lecture for University of Chicago course Inclusive Technology. February 2023.

  6. Designing Equitable Sociotechnical Systems. Invited talk at tech startup Lumos. Virtual. August 2022.

  7. Designing Equitable Sociotechnical Systems. Guest lecture for UCSB course Media, Technology, and Society. Virtual. April 2022.

  8. Beyond the Command: Feminist STS Research and Critical Issues for the Design of Social Machines. CSCW. Virtual. October 2021.

  9. Relational Engineering Practices: Insights From a Feminist Data Science Lab. Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Virtual. October 2021.

  10. Sex, Power, and Technology: A Relational Engineering Ethos as Feminist Utopia. MIT CMS Master’s Thesis Presentations. April 2021. [Link]

  11. Internet Infrastructure in Montana. Network Sovereignty Workshop. Virtual (originally scheduled at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana). January 2021.

  12. Ambii: An Ambient & Non-Anthropomorphic Digital Assistant. Artificial Creativity Conference. Virtual via Malmö University, Sweden. November 2020.

  13. Mindfully Scrolling: Rethinking Facebook After Time Deactivated. Media in Transition 10. MIT in Cambridge, MA. May 2019.

Other

  • Betwixt and Between: How We Grow During Times of Crisis. MIT Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab Blog. May 2020. [Link]

  • Thinking Beyond “The User” in Technology Design. MIT Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab Blog. September 2019. [Link]

  • I worked as a software engineer for this study: Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., & Gentzkow, M. (2020). The welfare effects of social media. American Economic Review, 110(3), 629-76. [New York Times coverage of study, full paper]

  • The Gender Gap and Variations in Math Requirements for STEM Majors. Undergraduate research project at Brown University. 2014. [Link]