Bio
Huili Chen is an interdisciplinary researcher, scientist, and designer. Her research explores human experience as social beings in the context of intelligent machines. Her work integrates theories and methods from computer science, cognitive and behavioral sciences, design, and philosophy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is catalyzing a cognitive revolution comparable to the emergence of human language and the Internet, fundamentally reshaping how we think, create, and connect. This new era holds promise and peril for human flourishing. The overarching mission of Chen’s research is to help humanity thrive in the age of intelligent machines.
Chen’s work appeared in the world’s leading academic journals, including Science Robotics, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and Computers & Education, as well as top international conferences in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, including ACM CHI and ACM/IEEE HRI. Her research has been featured in MIT News, Asparagus Magazine and the CODAME Art + Tech Festival, as well as received best paper awards at international conferences (e.g., ACM/IEEE HRI 2024).
Prior to her current role, Dr. Chen was a Presidential Research Fellow (2024-2025) in the Program in Cognitive Science at Princeton University, focusing on the theoretical development and empirical testing of human and artificial minds. She also held fellowships at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center (2023-2024) and Yale Law School’s Information Society Project (2023-2024). As an AI Fellow, she worked for the United Nations Global Pulse, the Secretary-General’s Innovation Lab, in the summer of 2019. She earned her PhD and MS in Media Arts & Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, and a B.S. in Computer Science and B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.