Yve Smith - PhD Researcher

Yve Smith

She/Her

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What expertise will you bring to AI? 

My academic background is in Equine Science and Psychology, and I have often taken an interdisciplinary approach: from projects that combined construction and metal casting techniques with biological science, to applying machine learning to a psychological research question. Outside academia, I have worked primarily in adult education, ranging from administering in-person programmes to designing the user experience of learning platforms and analysing user data.

Research Interests 

My PhD research is focused on children’s perspectives on AI and education, using speculative design and participatory methods to explore how AI might transform learning beyond the confines of screens and traditional classrooms. I am interested in creative approaches to AI literacy that equip children with the conceptual grounding to engage meaningfully in conversations about educational technology, and using tangible artefacts as communicative bridges for their ideas. Through this work, I aim to bring children’s perspectives into more direct dialogue with the adult worlds of the educators, policymakers and industry leaders who are shaping their future.

Beyond this, I am interested in how AI might impact our relationships, decision-making and development across the lifespan, and in how it can be used to enhance, rather than diminish, our ‘humanity’.

What made you want to apply for CCAI?

I had been interested in pursuing research in this area for several years, catalysed by the recent advances made in generative AI. To me, it was important to be part of an interdisciplinary cohort when studying such a fast-moving and impactful area, as I believe it fuels better research and more useful outcomes. The CCAI CDT therefore seemed like the perfect environment to explore my interests.

What are your ambitions for AI? How do you plan to change the world?  

I believe AI has the potential to feed either our stronger or our weaker selves, depending on how it is implemented, and one of the most powerful arenas where this will play out is education. I want to challenge the dominant trend toward the industrialisation of education and reframe how we think about educational AI by incorporating the perspectives of those most affected by it. 

My ultimate ambition is to help shape futures in which technology supports us to connect with one another, live healthy and expansive lives, and create things that truly enrich our experience and our world. I am excited to grapple with the complex questions of how we design, build and implement AI systems in ways that serve the genuine betterment of our societies and the planet we share.