Biography

Yiran is about to complete her doctoral study at Warwick Business School, the University of Warwick. Her dissertation - Navigating the Ethical Current of Artificial Intelligence: An Ethnography of the Co-Development of AI for Hiring, is dedicated to understanding the ethics of AI, particularly on the constitution of ethics, as well as the intricate ethical consequences that are produced in practice. In her longitudinal empirical research, Yiran primarily investigates the co-development of AI in the context of recruitment practices.

Yiran is passionate about translating her research expertise into timely, practical solutions that address real-world challenges. For example, during a pivotal moment when generative AI was gaining widespread attention and the University of Warwick was still navigating its response, Yiran contributed to the Opportunities and Risks of AI in Higher Education project. In this role, she co-authored a university-wide handbook designed to guide students and educators in the responsible use of generative AI tools for learning and teaching. This resource has been widely disseminated, including by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), and has had a significant impact on the national conversation around AI in higher education in the UK.

As an award-winning educator, Yiran brings the same dedication and innovation to teaching that she does to research. Her learner-centred approach, which incorporates storytelling and inclusivity, has consistently resonated with UG and PG students. Yiran contributes to inspiring and engaging students while fostering an inclusive and dynamic learning environment, zealously guiding her students to succeed in the digital era by motivating them to achieve their full potential

Research Topic

AI ethics, AI at work, AI and organising, AI for hiring

Summary of Research

As an AI ethics scholar, Yiran understands ethics as highly contextual and situated. As AI algorithms continually learn and evolve, the ethical dilemmas and outcomes associated with their development and use are also constantly changing. She stresses that to adequately appreciate the complexity of AI ethics, we must move beyond deterministic rule-based theorisation to encompass a more situated, practice-based understanding. Unlike retrospective approaches that seek explanations for ethical failures evident in AI use, her work observes the construction, adjustment, and embedding of ethics in AI as it unfolds, exploring associated ethical implications in real time. Her work contributes to the AI and organising literature by unpacking the complexity of the circularity of an AI system through the provision of empirical evidence that bridges design and use. Additionally, she aims for her research to have a global societal impact, shaping how individuals, stakeholders, organisations, and policymakers perceive and understand the evolving reality of AI ethics, in addition to how AI may transform virtually every aspect of society in the future.

Supervisors

Dr Rene Wiedner and Prof Joe Nandhakumar