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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260508T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260508T120000
DTSTAMP:20260825T230233
CREATED:20260501T080056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T073553Z
UID:22598-1778234400-1778241600@wasp-hs.org
SUMMARY:PhD Defense: Emerging AI and Ethics in Higher Education: A Technology Mediation Perspective
DESCRIPTION:On 8 May 2026\, Alexandra Farazouli defends her doctoral thesis\, “Emerging AI and Ethics in Higher Education: A Technology Mediation Perspective”\, at Stockholm University. \nSee event page. \nAbstract\nThe emergence of AI has become a defining issue for higher education worldwide\, and Sweden is no exception. At the same time\, emerging AI technologies reconfigure priorities and valuations within educational practice by mediating teaching and learning and opening new paths for how teachers and students relate to higher education practices. In this context\, AI-mediated practices raise ethical questions that are often presented as unprecedented yet are deeply rooted in longstanding practices in higher education. This thesis undertakes an empirical exploration of AI-mediated practices in higher education\, foregrounding teachers’ perspectives and focusing on the ethical issues arising from such mediations. Drawing on postphenomenology and technology mediation theory\, the thesis examines how teachers perceive and experience emerging AI artefacts (automated grading systems (AGS) and generative AI (GAI) chatbots) in relation to their practices\, and how these artefacts mediate their understandings of what they ought to do and how they ought to act when balancing sometimes competing demands of autonomy and accountability. \nThe thesis is a compilation of four complementary studies. Study I examines the ethical considerations of AGS\, reviewing the literature on AGS and analysing their specificities through a relational ethics approach. This study highlighted that AGS not only introduce technical and procedural considerations but also reconfigure educational practices and relationships in ways that demand ongoing\, situated\, and relationally attuned ethical reflection. Study II is an interview study with AGS developers who are also university teachers using these systems. It examines their expectations\, experiences\, and the disruptions that AGS introduce into assessment practices. The findings underscore the ambivalent role of AGS as both promising and disruptive\, offering efficiency and consistency\, but also introducing ‘new’ frictions and ethical dilemmas. Study III is a study inspired by the Turing test\, followed by focus group interviews with university teachers. It explores how GAI chatbots mediate teachers’ perceptions of their assessment practices. The findings indicate that the presence of GAI chatbots\, allowing the possibility of AI-generated writing\, shapes evaluation practices\, prompting teachers to question authorship and\, in some cases\, reinforcing mistrust within the student–teacher relationship. Study IV is a focus group interview study examining how teachers experience and interpret the emergence of GAI and how it mediates their perceptions of their professional roles. Participants described GAI as both disruptive and potentially transformative. They were compelled to reconsider assessment formats\, teaching priorities\, and their responsibility to foster critical and ethical engagement with technology. \nThe combined findings of the four studies show that the emergence of AI unsettles established practices and intensifies the uncertainties that characterise educational situations\, placing greater demands on teachers’ professional judgment. The thesis also argues that the emergence of AI exposes and amplifies longstanding ethical issues\, such as fairness\, academic integrity\, and equity\, reshaping how these issues are understood and enacted as the technologies become embedded in higher education practices. \nSee full thesis. \nSupervisors\nCormac McGrath\, Associate Professor\, Department of Education\, Stockholm University.Teresa Cerratto Pargman\, Professor\, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences\, Stockholm University.Klara Bolander Laksov\, Professor\, Department of Education\, Stockholm University. \nOpponent\nWayne Holmes\, Professor\, Institute of Education\, University College London (UCL).
URL:https://wasp-hs.org/event3/phd-defense-emerging-ai-and-ethics-in-higher-education-a-technology-mediation-perspective/
LOCATION:Lilla hörsalen\, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet (The Swedish Museum of Natural History)\, Frescativägen 40\, Stockholm\, Sweden
CATEGORIES:PhD Defence,PhD Defense
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260508T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260508T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T230233
CREATED:20260506T121806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T121808Z
UID:22712-1778248800-1778259600@wasp-hs.org
SUMMARY:PhD Defense: Ethical Reasoning in Tech Work: From Individual Responsibility to Collective Action
DESCRIPTION:On 8 May 2026\, Kristina Popova defends her doctoral thesis\, “Ethical Reasoning in Tech Work: From Individual Responsibility to Collective Action”\, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. \nSee event page. \nAbstract\nTechnology production is a complex process that requires the accumulation of resources and in which very little is done individually. Given the fragmentation of tech development and the limits of individual action\, how much can tech workers affect the tech they produce? Do they care about the tech they are building and its implications for the world? Who should act to ensure that technology is “ethical”? What are the possibilities for individual and collective action that exist in tech workplaces? These are the questions I aim to answer in my dissertation. \nThis dissertation is an interdisciplinary project connecting four studies with the methods from design research\, ethnomethodology and sociology. The papers are published within the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and positioned within the tradition of studying ethics in practice\, which approaches ethics by studying the work practices in specific tech organisations. Theoretically\, my work is grounded in the philosophical tradition of ethics of care with its focus on concrete situated actions instead of omnirelevant rules\, in the ethnomethodological tradition of respecifying theoretical phenomena as matters of practice\, and in moral anthropology with its focus on ethics as shaped by communities. \nThe four papers combined in the thesis explore the ethical reasoning of tech practitioners in academic settings\, government officials working with AI in Sweden\, and technology practitioners working in commercial companies in Europe. I rely on a variety of qualitative data: (1) a video-ethnography of design ideation sessions at the university; (2) an interview-study of ethical responsibility by tech practitioners in academia\, governmental sector and the industry; (3) a a workshop-based study of voicing discomfort (critique) in a design workshop with academic; (4) an interview-based study of ethics discourses in tech companies in Europe. The studies contribute to design and HCI with an empirical research of ethical reasoning in everyday design work. \nThe thesis aims to advance an anthropological\, human-centred take on ethics in HCI. I argue in favour of including affect and emotion of tech practitioners into the discussion on ethics in HCI and emphasise the limitations of an individualistic take on ethics. Affect is important for connecting the level of everyday practices with structural power relations. Understanding the limitations of individual action and focusing on the potential for collective action instead is important for balancing responsibility with power. This thesis also draws attention to the inequality within the tech sector as a factor that hinders the possibility for forming a shared agenda and engaging in collective action. \nSee full thesis. \nSupervisors\nRobert Comber\, Associate Professor.Airi Lampinen\, Professor at Stockholm University.Kristina Höök\, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.  \nOpponent\nKatie Shilton\, Professor at University of Maryland\, College Park\, Maryland\, US
URL:https://wasp-hs.org/event3/phd-defense-ethical-reasoning-in-tech-work-from-individual-responsibility-to-collective-action/
LOCATION:Q2\, KTH Royal Institute of Technology\, Malvinas Väg 10\, Stockholm\, Sweden
CATEGORIES:PhD Defence,PhD Defense
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wasp-hs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PhD-Defense-Kristina-Popova.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260522T090000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260522T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T230233
CREATED:20260519T054225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T054301Z
UID:22817-1779440400-1779469200@wasp-hs.org
SUMMARY:PhD Defense: Reframing Robots for Care: Situating Informal Caregivers in the Development of AI-driven Technologies
DESCRIPTION:On 22 May 2026\, Laetitia Tanqueray defends her doctoral thesis\, “Reframing Robots for Care: Situating Informal Caregivers in the Development of AI-driven Technologies”\, at Lund University. \nRead more about the event. \nAbstract\nThe current framing of AI-driven technologies situates them as solutions to a looming care crisis. However\, this overlooks informal caregivers’ key role to current State budgetary deficits impacting healthcare services happening in Europe. As States increasingly rely on informal caregivers to provide care before the necessary involvement of healthcare services\, there is already well-established research on the growing care demands on informal caregivers. Yet\, in the development of AI-driven technologies\, little attention has been given to this group. To attend to this gap\, this thesis situates informal caregivers in order to reframe current developments of AI-driven technologies for care. \nThe aims of this thesis are therefore grounded in visibilising and situating informal caregivers within the development of AI-driven technologies. This is achieved in two ways: (1) by conducting interdisciplinary research on informal caregivers to bring forth the significance of critical social sciences in Human-Robot Interaction on health care as well at times Human-Computer Interaction; and\, (2) shedding light on current societal challenges on care regarding informal caregivers\, especially informal caregivers under the age of 18 (referred to as young carers)\, to the development of AI-driven technologies. The first aim is directed at the academic community\, whilst the second aim is directed towards society by empowering specific stakeholders in envisioned AI-driven technologies as artefacts. To answer to those aims\, a socio-legal STS theoretical lens is established\, to bring forth the power of law\, social norms\, plans and situated knowledge and care. \nThe findings are based on four scientific papers\, which report on HRI research practices on health care (Paper I)\, a theoretical framework to account for norms within adaptive technologies (Paper II)\, positioning young carers into AI-driven technologies (Paper III)\, and finally\, an empirical study on young carers’ perspectives of robots for care (Paper IV). These ultimately showcase that the development stage of this technology provides a pivotal opening to include informal caregivers\, ahead of deployment. This thesis offers hope on how to attend to an overlooked stakeholder\, namely informal caregivers. This includes reflections on including a group that has previously been neglected from AI research\, namely young carers\, and how to do so ethically. \n\n\n\nSee full thesis. \nSupervisors\nStefan Larsson\, Supervisor\, Lund UniversityKatie Winkle\, Assistens supervisor\, Uppsala University \nOpponent\nSara Ljungblad\, Chalmers University of Technology
URL:https://wasp-hs.org/event3/phd-defense-reframing-robots-for-care-situating-informal-caregivers-in-the-development-of-ai-driven-technologies/
LOCATION:Lecture Hall V:B\, building V\, Faculty of Engineering LTH\, Lund University\, Lund.\, Klas Anshelms väg 14\, Lund\, Sweden
CATEGORIES:PhD Defence,PhD Defense
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260529T090000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Stockholm:20260529T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T230233
CREATED:20260527T072017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260527T073048Z
UID:22926-1780045200-1780074000@wasp-hs.org
SUMMARY:PhD Defense: The Development of Complex Intelligent Systems: A Study of Engineering and Project Management Approaches
DESCRIPTION:On 29 May 2026\, Appu Balachandran defends his doctoral thesis\, “The Development of Complex Intelligent Systems: A Study of Engineering and Project Management Approaches“\, at Linköping University. \nSee event page. \nAbstract\nAdvances in software and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming society. Many of the systems that underpin everyday life\, such as aircraft\, vehicles\, energy systems\, and transportation infrastructure\, are complex technical systems that are becoming increasingly software-intensive. As these systems gain the ability to make decisions\, learn from data\, and adapt to their environment\, they evolve into what this thesis refers to as Complex Intelligent Systems (CoIS). \nThis thesis examines how the development of such systems is changing as software and AI grow in importance\, with a particular focus on engineering and project management approaches. Traditionally\, complex systems have been developed using systems engineering\, often supported by model-based approaches to ensure structured\, traceable\, and predictable development. At the same time\, development projects have typically been organized through phase-based Stage-Gate processes. \nHowever\, the growing integration of software and AI has led to the emergence of data-driven engineering approaches and more iterative and flexible agile practices. This thesis investigates how these different approaches interact in the development of CoIS. \nThe study is based on interviews with experts from the aviation\, automotive\, and naval industries\, complemented by an in-depth case study in the automotive domain. The findings show that the development of CoIS rarely involves replacing established approaches with new ones. Instead\, organizations need to combine multiple approaches simultaneously. Model-based approaches remain essential for safety-critical systems\, while data-driven and agile approaches are required to support learning and adaptability. This creates fundamental tensions between predictability and control on the one hand\, and learning and flexibility on the other. The thesis contributes to understanding these tensions by showing that it is not only merely a practical or methodological challenge\, but rooted in fundamentally different underlying logics of development embedded in the approaches used. \nThe results also highlight the role of system architecture as a key mechanism for managing this complexity. By structuring systems appropriately\, organizations can combine different development approaches without compromising safety or functionality. Overall\, the main challenge is not choosing a single approach\, but managing the interplay between multiple approaches across both the system and the organization. \nThis thesis contributes by providing an integrated perspective on the development of CoIS and by identifying the organizational and managerial challenges that arise when different development logics intersect. As CoIS development is still evolving\, further research is needed to understand how organizations can develop the capabilities required to manage these dynamics over time and across industries. \nSee full thesis. \nSupervisors\nGunnar Holmberg\, Adj. Professor\, Linköping University (Main supervisor)Nicolette Lakemond\, Professor\, Linköping University (Co-supervisor)Gouthanan Pushpananthan\, Assistant Professor\, Linköping University (Co-supervisor)  \nOpponent\nTobias Larsson\, Professor\, Blekinge Institute of Technology.
URL:https://wasp-hs.org/event3/phd-defense-the-development-of-complex-intelligent-systems-a-study-of-engineering-and-project-management-approaches/
LOCATION:A2\, A-building\, Campus Valla\, Linköping\, Sweden
CATEGORIES:PhD Defence,PhD Defense
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wasp-hs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PhD-Defense-graphic-5.jpg
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