Doctoral student at Western University’s Library & Information Science PhD Program since Fall 2022, under the supervision of Dr. Luke Stark. I am focusing on the data cleaning practices in the industry, and how some of these practices are taught (or not) at the undergraduate level. I will be conducting ethnographic studies at a university class as well as a team of developers in the industry.
I’m passionate about the intersection of social justice and technology, examining the impact of high-tech ‘solutions’ on individual lives as well as the broader society. I have an undergraduate degree in cultural studies & communication, supported by a graduate degree in human-computer interaction design and practical experience designing demonstration systems.
My work and interests are highly interdisciplinary, spanning: data ethics; critical computing; algorithmic fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics (FATE/FAccT); science, technology & society studies (STSS); human-computer interaction (HCI).
Get my CV //
Connect with me on twitter @pinbarlas //
Explore my publications on Google Scholar //
Watch some of my 5- and 30- minute presentations //
Latest news
April 2024: I was nominated for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for 2024, although my application was not successful.
April 2024: I gave a lightning talk at the “Generating Community” - Interdisciplinary FIMS Graduate Conference on a project in progress.
April 2024: I was accepted to the Doctoral Colloquium of the Data Power Conference in September 2024.
April 2024: I was accepted to the “Data Frictions and Futures: Resistance, Refusal, and Renewal in Critical Data Studies” Panel at the ASIST Conference in October 2024.
March 2024: I gave a public talk titled “Disposable People: Data Cleaning and Power in AI Ethics” at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. Watch it here!
March 2024: I was accepted to attend the Summer School in Responsible AI & Human Rights in May, run by Mila and the Université de Montréal.
October 2023: I presented at the “(Dis)Trust and AI: Perspectives from Across Disciplines and Sectors” Work-in-Progress workshop.
Selected Publications
Person, Human, Neither: The Dehumanization Potential of Automated Image Tagging
by Pınar Barlas, Kyriakos Kyriakou, Styliani Kleanthous, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the 2021 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES), 2021.
PDF // Poster // ACM digital library // 5-minute presentation
Shifting Our Awareness, Taking Back Tags: Temporal Changes in Computer Vision Services’ Social Behaviors
by Pınar Barlas, Maximilian Krahn, Styliani Kleanthous, Kyriakos Kyriakou, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the 16th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2022.
Perception of Fairness in Algorithmic Decisions: Future Developers' Perspective
by Styliani Kleanthous, Maria Kasinidou, Pınar Barlas, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Patterns, 2021.
“It’s About Time": A View of Crowdsourced Data Before and During the Pandemic
by Evgenia Christoforou, Pınar Barlas, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2021.
“I agree with the decision, but they didn’t deserve this”; Future Developers’ Perception of Fairness in Algorithmic Decisions
by Maria Kasinidou, Styliani Kleanthous, Pınar Barlas, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT), 2021.
To "See" is to Stereotype: Image Tagging Algorithms, Gender Recognition, and the Accuracy-Fairness Trade-off
by Pınar Barlas, Kyriakos Kyriakou, Olivia Guest, Styliani Kleanthous, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (PACM HCI 4, CSCW3, Article 232), 2020.
PDF // ACM digital library // 5-minute presentation // Summary on Twitter
Education
PhD. Library & Information Sciences
Western University (London, ON, Canada)
Current (since Fall 2022)
M.A. Interaction Design
Harbour.Space University (Barcelona, Spain)
2016 - 2017
B.A. Cultural Studies & Communication
Clark University (Worcester, MA, USA)
2012 - 2016
Recent Employment
Research Assistant
Under the supervision of Dr. Luke Stark at Western University
Current (since Fall 2022)
Teaching Assistant
In the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University
Current (since Fall 2022)
Research Associate
Selected Awards & Grants
Nominated for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Government of Canada, 2024
Catherine Sheldrick Ross Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship
Western University, 2022
Island-Wide Perspective & Reach Research & Innovation Grant (CyCLOPS Project)
CYENS Centre of Excellence, 2022
Fulbright Cyprus-America Scholarship (CASP)
Cyprus Fulbright Commission, 2011