My research explores ways to address the violent and harmful impacts of AI by understanding, centering, and supporting the self-determination of everyday people who use and are most affected by algorithmic systems. I am on the job market for academic or industry research positions starting in 2026.
I’m a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute where I’m advised by Ken Holstein and study everyday algorithmic resistance. Previously, I have conducted research at Microsoft Research Montreal’s fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics (FATE) team with Su Lin Blodgett and Alexandra Olteanu, where I explored impacts of and interventions for anthropomorphic AI. My work has been published in top-tier computing venues including CHI, CSCW, FAccT, and ACL.
Before graduate school, I worked as a growth product manager at Noom and led digital product experimentation efforts for the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s at Dow Jones. I graduated from Brown University with an undergraduate degree in computer science and grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in Northeast Tennessee.
In my free time, I like to run, watch musicals, eat ice cream, and visit libraries. I also am a weaver who recently was artist-in-residence at Praxis Fiber Workshop’s Digital Weaving Lab.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: (see more here)
Alicia DeVrio, Myra Cheng, Lisa Egede, Alexandra Olteanu, & Su Lin Blodgett. A Taxonomy of Linguistic Expressions That Contribute To Anthropomorphism of Language Technologies. CHI, 2025.
pdf video
Alicia DeVrio, Motahhare Eslami, & Kenneth Holstein. Building, Shifting, & Employing Power: A Taxonomy of Responses From Below to Algorithmic Harm. FAccT, 2024.
pdf video
Alicia DeVos, Aditi Dhabalia, Hong Shen, Kenneth Holstein, & Motahhare Eslami. Toward User-Driven Algorithm Auditing: Investigating users' strategies for uncovering harmful algorithmic behavior. CHI, 2022.
pdf video
Hong Shen*, Alicia DeVos*, Motahhare Eslami, & Kenneth Holstein. Everyday Algorithm Auditing: Understanding the power of everyday users in surfacing harmful algorithmic behaviors. CSCW, 2021.
pdf video