Dr. Tanushree Mitra is an associate professor at the University of Washington’s Information School, where she leads the Social Computing and Algorithmic Experiences (SCALE) lab group. Her research focus is on human-centered AI and responsible AI wherein she combines computational techniques, AI, natural language processing (NLP), and social science principles to study the complex social processes underlying human–human and human–computer interactions in large-scale online systems. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she draws from a range of methods from the fields of human–computer interactions, large-scale data analytics, machine learning, and AI. Her work consistently centers human impact, interpretability, and the translation of research into real-world governance and safety solutions. Dr. Mitra’s research has been recognized through multiple honors, including an NSF-CAREER, an NSF-CRII, an early career ONR-YIP, and an Adamic-Glance Distinguished Young Researcher awards, along with several best paper awards. She received her PhD in computer science from Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing.
Dr. Mitra’s Fulbright-Nehru project is examining how generative AI systems, such as large language and text-to-image models, reproduce sociocultural biases and misalignments, especially in high-stakes domains in Global South contexts. In partnership with the host institution, the project is developing methodologies to audit AI systems for cultural risks, and is building mixed-initiative workflows by combining machine intelligence, crowd workers, and experts to evaluate those risks at scale. The expected outcomes include new sociocultural AI audit frameworks, datasets, and evaluation metrics, culturally grounded AI capabilities, scalable annotation systems, peer-reviewed research, and strengthened international collaborations focused on responsible, equitable, and globally inclusive AI development.