2026 Research Speaker Series
Yi-Chieh Lee
Assistant Professor, National University of Singapore
October 8, 2026
4:30 – 5:20 p.m.
Sieg Building, room 134
When AI Shapes Us: Understanding Conversational AI’s Influence on Well-Being and Agency
What impact does interacting with conversational AI (CAI) have on people's well-being, sense of self, and ability to pursue their own goals? When can these interactions provide meaningful support, and when might they diminish the agency of the individuals they aim to assist?
This talk presents a research program that investigates the social and psychological consequences of CAI. It brings together studies examining prosocial behavior toward AI and its effects on human well-being, how AI's expressed confidence and personality affect human self-confidence and self-concept, and the tensions related to autonomy and ownership in AI-assisted writing. The talk also addresses harmful behaviors associated with AI companionship. Together, these projects encourage exploration of the benefits and risks of human-AI interaction as interrelated concerns.
Understanding CAI requires us to look beyond the system's output and consider what an interaction means for the individual involved. The talk concludes with implications for responsible design and outlines future research questions regarding whose goals these systems serve, what constitutes a meaningful benefit, and how individuals can maintain control over the role that AI plays in their lives.
About the presenter
Yi-Chieh (EJ) Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Lee's research focuses on human-computer interaction, human-centered AI, social computing, and computational social science. This research explores the impact of AI on well-being and personal agency, examines human-AI collaboration in learning and multilingual communication, and investigates older adults' experiences with AI. Dr. Lee also develops human-AI approaches to qualitative analysis and the study of social phenomena. He earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research has been recognized, including a CHI best paper award, CHI honorable mention awards, and a Google research scholar award.