Qing XIAO

PhD Student, Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), School of Computer Science (SCS), Carnegie Mellon University

Contact Me: qingx at andrew dot cmu dot edu

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How to pronounce my name: Qīng, pronounced like “Ching” (rhymes with “sing”), Xiāo, pronounced like “Shyao” (rhymes with “meow” but starts with a ‘sh’ sound).

I’m Qing Xiao, a second-year PhD student at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), advised by Dr. Hong Shen and part of the CARE (Collective AI Research and Evaluation) Lab.

As generative and agentic AI systems become increasingly capable and increasingly embedded in people’s everyday lives, fundamental questions arise about how human life and society are being reshaped. My research examines the evolving relationship between humans and AI. I focus on two interrelated questions:

  • how people make sense of and adapt to increasingly capable AI systems;
  • and how we can design, evaluate, and govern these powerful AI systems to support human agency and social needs.

Research Themes

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Theme 1
Interacting with Increasingly Professionally Capable AI

My first line of research focuses on AI in the future of work. I study how people work with AI systems as they enter domains of professional expertise central to work and organizational life. This line of research asks: how do workers adapt as AI assumes core professional roles, how do organizations transform to accommodate future human–AI collaboration, and how can these systems be designed and governed to function as responsible collaborators in the workplace?

Theme 2
Interacting with Increasingly Emotionally Capable AI

My second line of research focuses on emerging relational AI, including AI companions and companion robots. I study how people relate to AI systems as they increasingly enter domains of emotion and companionship central to human social relationships. This line of research asks: how do users build and experience relationships with AI, how do value conflicts emerge in human-AI relational interactions, and how can these systems be designed to support safety and human well-being?

Theme 3
Interacting with Increasingly Cognitively Capable AI

My third line of research focuses on autonomous agents and agentic AI systems. I study how people interact with AI systems as they increasingly take on cognitive capacities central to human thought, including information seeking, reasoning, and decision-making. This line of research asks: what happens when people delegate core cognitive work to AI agents, where do breakdowns and risks emerge, and how can these systems be designed to support effective, accountable, and secure human-agent collaboration?

Theme 4
Situating Human-AI Interaction in Broader Socio-Technical Contexts

I also conduct broader research on digital platforms, social media, algorithmic systems, and marginalized communities, asking how digital technologies mediate work and social relations. More recently, I have become interested in how people coexist with AI in social media environments, where AI-generated content fills everyday feeds and AI agents increasingly participate as social actors.