Sharifa Sultana

About Me

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I am a Responsible AI and human-AI interaction (HAI) researcher. I investigate appropriate ways to co-develop AI with communities. I have been working with rural communities in Bangladesh and immigrants in North America for the last ten years. I use both quantitative and qualitative (ethnographic) techniques and ethics frameworks to study and design AI tools and systems. My research has brought novel perspectives into Responsible AI, HAI, HCI, and information and communication technology for development (ICTD). 

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I am an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at UIUC. I am also an affiliated faculty member of the School of Information Sciences (iSchool); Center for Global Studies (CGS), Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES), and Health Care Engineering Systems Center (HCESC) at the Coordinated Science Lab (CSL) at UIUC. I am also a member of the AI & Trust Working Group for 2025–26 at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) at the University of Toronto. I have remained a Facebook/Meta Fellow (2020-2022), while my research is supported by Meta and Jump ARCHES, DPI, and GIANT at UIUC, as well as the ICT Ministry, Bangladesh. I completed my Ph.D. in Information Science at Cornell University, advised by Dr. Susan R. Fussell. I obtained my undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

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My areas of interest are:

Responsible AI, HAI, HCI4D, Design, Safety, Well-being.

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I am recruiting Postdoc/PhD students with strong academic and publication records to work on community-centric AI design, human-centered ML/NLP/AI projects. Please fill out the Google Form.
 

UIUC students are encouraged to email me directly.

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Recent and Upcoming Events​​​​​​

• 💰 Jun 25, 2026: Our proposal, "Designing Accessible Care Tools with Cancer Survivors," has received funding from the JUMP ARCHES Program.

• ✍🏻 Jun 10, 2026: My co-authored article, "Prediction markets allow the powerful to buy truth," was published on the Institute of Art and Ideas, iai news, UK. 

• ✍🏻 May 23, 2026: My co-authored article, "Universities in the age of AI: The tension between trust, competence and surveillance", was published on The Business Standard newspaper, Bangladesh. 

• 🎉 May 22, 2026: Five papers were accepted at ACM COMPASS 2026

  • ​‘Ghostcrafting AI’: Under the Rug of Platform Labor 

  • When Data Protection Fails to Protect: Law, Power, and Postcolonial Governance in Bangladesh

  • DAIEM: Decolonizing Algorithm's Role as a Team-member in Informal E-market

  • Credibility, Anonymity, and Algorithmic Gatekeeping in Leveraging Social Media as a Justice-Seeking Tool

  • Bangladesh AI Readiness: Gaps in Curriculum, Infrastructure, and Governance

• 🎉 Mar 20, 2026: Two papers were accepted to DIS 2026.

  • ​Bonik Somiti: A Social-market Tool for Safe, Accountable, and Harmonious Informal E-Market Ecosystem in Bangladesh

  • Design Your Own Chauffeur: Exploring Older Adults’ Interaction with a Conversational AI Agent in Autonomous Vehicles

• 🎉 Mar 12, 2026: Four papers and two posters got accepted at CHI 2026.

  • ​🏅 Data Repair (Honorable Mention)

  • Embodying Facts, Figures, and Faiths in Narrative Artistic Performances in Rural Bangladesh

  • Re-educating Educated Ones: A Case Study on Chakma Language Revitalization in Chittagong Hill Tracts

  • Data Migration in HCI: The Politics of Invisible Borders, Informal Networks, and Immigrants’ Data

  • Bangladesh AI Readiness: Perspectives from the Academia, Industry, and Government

  • Perception of Deepfakes among Bangladeshi Women

• 📺 Jan 6, 2026: Appeared on Sokaler Bangladesh program on Jamuna TV to discuss Responsible AI for Bangladesh. 

• 🎤 Jan 5, 2026: Gave a speech and attended the Responsible AI for Bangladesh Panel at  Dhaka University, Bangladesh. 

• 🎤 Jan 4, 2026: Gave an invited speech at Brac University, Bangladesh.