Human Control: From Social Media Privacy to AI
As AI becomes increasingly capable and digital technologies reshape our lives, how can we maintain control? Join Distinguished Professor Soumya Ray from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, as he explores human control in the digital age, from social media privacy to collaboration with generative AI.
A Descent into the Maelstrom: Human Control from Social Media Privacy to Working with AI
Renowned Scholars Seminar Series with Soumya Ray
About the seminar
Technological change is accelerating, challenging our ability to adapt and maintain control over the world around us. As machines become more knowledgeable, faster and increasingly capable of performing human tasks, what does it mean to remain in control?
In this Renowned Scholars Seminar, Distinguished Professor Soumya Ray draws on his research and professional experience to examine how people navigate control in an increasingly technology-driven world.
From social media privacy to generative AI
The seminar begins with research on information privacy in social media, exploring how individuals seek to maintain control over their personal information. Soumya Ray examines how people rely on themselves and powerful external actors to protect their privacy, and why these strategies can sometimes lead to resistance against new privacy protections.
The discussion then turns to generative AI and human–AI collaboration. Drawing on experiments in AI-assisted content creation, Ray explores how people exercise control by deciding whether to delegate tasks to AI, defining its role and determining how much of its output to accept.
Finally, he reflects on his own experience in software engineering, where AI agents increasingly take over coding tasks, challenging engineers to reconsider their professional roles and identities.
The seminar raises a central question: What should we hold on to, and what might we need to let go of, in our search for control?
About the speaker
Soumya Ray is a Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan.
His research focuses on how people interact with digital technologies, particularly privacy and security, online communities, user engagement and resistance, and predictive and computational approaches in information systems research.
His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems and Journal of the Association for Information Systems.
He holds a PhD in Information Systems and Applied Statistical Methods from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Programme
09:30–10:00 – Arrival and meet-and-greet with light breakfast
10:00–11:30 – Seminar with Soumya Ray
