Aakriti Kumar

Aakriti Kumar is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Kellogg School of Management and the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) at Northwestern University, collaborating with Dr. Matt Groh to develop AI tools for empathic communication and synthetic media detection.

Her academic background includes:

• PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of California, Irvine (advised by Dr. Mark Steyvers)
• Master’s degree in Statistics from UCI
• B.Tech. in Engineering from IIT Madras, India

Her research integrates cognitive science and human-computer interaction to investigate human mental models of AI through behavioral experiments and computational modeling. Key focuses include trust calibration in large language models, metacognitive strategies in human-AI decision-making, and individual differences in cognitive tasks. She emphasizes translating theoretical insights into practical AI applications, particularly in high-stakes domains like autonomous vehicles and synthetic media detection.

Analysis of her publications reveals consistent exploration of how humans infer AI capabilities and adjust reliance strategies, with increasing emphasis on large-scale real-world data (e.g., Lumosity cognitive training datasets) to address limitations of controlled lab studies. Her work bridges cognitive theory with industry applications, evidenced by internships at Motional and Honda Research Institute.

She received the Irvine Initiative in AI, Law, and Society Fellowship in 2022.

During her PhD, she was mentored by Dr. Mark Steyvers and collaborated with industry teams at Motional (advised by Dr. Krysta Chauncey) and Honda Research Institute (hosted by Dr. Kumar Akash). Her interdisciplinary approach combines statistical rigor from her master’s training with engineering problem-solving skills.

She contributes to NICO’s interdisciplinary research ecosystem focused on complex systems and human-centered AI, actively developing tools to enhance human skills through AI-mediated interactions.