Hi, I'm Joy (she/her)!
I am an Assistant Professor in the new AI and Society Department at the University at Buffalo. I was previously a Postdoctoral Associate at the Center for Applied Research on Work at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and completed my PhD in Information Science at Cornell.
I explore how communities can reclaim AI towards collective care and collective action. I use interdisciplinary, community-engaged qualitative, design, and systems methods to examine questions such as: How do emerging AI technologies reshape work and workplaces, especially in the context of care? How might worker voice and participation be incorporated in AI design and governance? How can AI-based tools hinder or nurture worker goals of solidarity and community? My research has included many contexts, including home care and worker cooperatives in New York State.
I have over a decade of experience in academia and industry designing and building technologies for social impact in diverse geographies (e.g., the United States, South/Southeast Asia, West Africa) and multiple domains (e.g., disability justice, global health, civic engagement). My research has been recognized with prestigious awards (e.g., Fulbright, NSF Graduate Fellowship), makes contributions to several disciplines (e.g., HCI, CSCW, ICTD, STS), and has real-world impact (e.g., open source technological artifacts, public-facing writing).
Recent highlights:
- I organized a panel on Reclaiming the Future of Work at the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Meeting in Seattle.
- I led a workshop on Writing for Interdisciplinary Computing Audiences at the ACM COMPASS conference.
- I wrote a short op-ed to my hometown newspaper in support of the McClintock Letters, a nationwide science communication project.
- I created a live visual summary of the Cornell Global AI Thought Summit: LLMs And Society.
- Our paper Exploring Data-Driven Advocacy in Home Health Care Work won a best paper award at the CHI 2025 conference. A short public-friendly summary of the research is featured in the Cornell Chronicle.