Using AI to build better lives

AI is fast becoming a fixture of daily life. The tech is reshaping the way we communicate, learn and plan our lives, so how can we better use it to help us? Zhanna Sarsenbayeva's research explores how human‑centred AI can support healthier choices and sustained behaviour change. Her work shows that when AI systems adapt their personality, tone, and responses to different situations, they can motivate people more effectively, build trust after mistakes, and better support long‑term wellbeing.

Her work looks at how adjusting an AI agent's personality in real time changes how well it serves different needs, how a voice assistant's response to its own mistakes shapes trust, and what it takes to design an AI health coach that can genuinely motivate behaviour change. Human-computer interaction, built around the human.

Bio

Zhanna Sarsenbayeva is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney's School of Computer Science, where her research sits across accessibility, ubiquitous computing, and human-computer interaction. She holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Melbourne, an MSc from the University of Oulu in Finland, and a BSc from University College London, and was previously a Doreen Thomas Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Melbourne. Her work asks what it would actually look like to design technology around people rather than the other way around.

Event

Thursday 7 May, 8:00 – 8:45 PM @Rose of Australia, 1 Swanson St, Erskineville NSW 2043

The other talk at this location is Reading, writing and redemption at 6:30 – 7:15 PM