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Staff Profile

Dr Lei Shi

Senior Lecturer in Human AI Interaction

  • Email: lei.shi@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: 1st Floor, Urban Sciences Building, Newcastle University, NE4 5TG, United Kingdom
Background

Director, Haii Lab

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), School of Computing

Chair, Board of Examiners (BoE) – MSc Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

Deputy Degree Programme Director, MSc Digital Technology Solutions Degree Apprenticeship (Software Engineering Specialist)

Postgraduate Research Admissions Tutor (Selector), School of Computing

My research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and human-computer interaction (HCI); further details are available in the Research section below.

To prospective full-time and visiting PhD students:

PhD applications are accepted on a rolling (year-round) basis. Eligibility requires completion/near-completion of a BSc/MSc in HCI, AI, Data Science, Applied Statistics, Cognitive Sciences, Experimental Psychology, Learning Science/Engineering, or a closely allied field.

As my PhD supervisee, you will be mentored by a diverse, experienced academic team (with me as primary supervisor) and join the dynamic Haii Lab community in the School of Computing, collaborating with scholars passionate about computing and innovation.

To apply:

Email me to discuss potential research themes and address any queries, with the following documents attached:

  • A clear research proposal outlining your intended study
  • A detailed CV and persuasive cover letter (highlighting academic background and alignment with the programme)
  • Two strong letters of recommendation (attesting to scholarly potential)
  • BSc/MSc academic transcripts and certificates
  • Proof of English proficiency (e.g., IELTS, Duolingo, Pearsons, TOEFL), where applicable

Find project ideas/inspiration on the Projects page, and view my current PhD students.

Funding Opportunities:

  • NUORS: Application deadline 15 May 2026

Professional Activities:

  • External Examiner for MSc IT programme at the University of Aberdeen (since Oct 2025)
  • Communication Chair for EATEL Board (since 2023)
  • Local Chair for ECTEL2025
  • Co-chair for Community, Place & Social Events at ECSCW2025
  • Communication Chair for ECTEL2024
  • Workshops and Tutorials Chair for AIED2023
  • Local organiser and Web Chair for AIED2022
  • Local organiser and Web Chair for EDM2022
  • Proceedings Chair for IoT2022
  • Review Editor, Editorial Board of AI for Human Learning and Behavior Change, part of the journal Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
  • Guest Editor for Special Issue of Sensors (Connecting Data, People, and Artificial Intelligence toward Smart and Personalized Healthcare)
  • Grant Reviewer for EPSRC, Royal Society, Estonian Research Council (Sihtasutus Eesti Teadusagentuur - ETAG), Czech Health Research Council (AZV ČR), Spanish Research State Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación - AEI)
  • Journal Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, Computer & Education, Interactive Learning Environments, IEEE Transactions on Games, Journal of Engineering Design, Computing and Informatics, IEEE MultiMedia, WWW Journal, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence – AI for Human Learning and Behavior Change, Int. Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (IJAIED), Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, IEEE Int'l Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), Journal of Engineering Design, Behaviour & Information Technology, Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
  • Conference Paper Reviewer for AAAI, IJCNN, CHI, DIS, ISMAR, UMAP, AIED, LAK, L@S, ITS, EDM, AMCIS, WISE, ICWL, ICETC, GamiFIN, AIAI
  • Senior Programme Committee member for AIED (since 2026)
  • Programme Committee member for IUI, ICWL, IoT, AIED, ITS, EDM, AIAI, WISE, HEFA, ICCSW, ECSCW, DMO-EDU@LAK, AI Education@AAAI
  • Technical Committee member for AIED (2019), ICETC (2018, 2019)
  • Session Chair for ECTEL (2025), IUI (2023)
  • Thesis External Examiner: PhD, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK (2024); PhD, Swansea University, Swansea, UK (2024); MSc Research, The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (2025, 2026)

Invited Talks:

  • Invited Speaker, "Human-AI Co-Creation of Personalised Narratives with Art", Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China (2026)
  • Invited Speaker, "How AI is Reshaping Guitar Learning From Intelligent Conversations to Haptic Feedback", Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China (2025)
  • Invited Speaker, 2024 National Youth Academic Conference on Industrial Design in conjunction with the 1st International Conference on Innovative Design and Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering, Hangzhou, China (2024)
  • Invited Speaker, European Media and Information Fund (EMIF) Winter Conference, Florence, Italy (2024)
  • Panellist Speaker, AGI Odyssey Symposium, London, UK (2024)
  • Panellist Speaker, Research & Innovation Showcase: Data Science & AI, Newcastle University, UK (2024)
  • "Predictive Mechanisms for Complex Online Harms", AGENCY stakeholder meeting, University of Birmingham, UK (2024)
  • "Tackling Cognitive Effects for Digital Wellbeing", Open Lab talk, Newcastle University, UK (2024)
  • "Connecting Smart Home Sensors & Social Care Systems", Smart Advances in Ageing Research, Newcastle, UK (2023)
  • "Human-AI Interaction Design and Stories Behind", Ashton Sixth Form Taster Day, Durham University, UK (2022)
  • "Human-AI Interaction Design", Virtual Breakfast Talk series for Year Eight students, Rumble Museum, Oxford, UK (2022)
  • "Human-Centred Decision Making through Visualisations in Teaching and Learning", Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (2022)
  • "Learning Analytics and Well-informed Interventions", Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (2022)
  • "Innovative Computing and Educational Technologies", Institute for Data Science, Durham University, Durham, UK (2021)
  • "Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Learning Analytics", Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China (2021)
  • "Profiling Subpopulations of MOOC Students", Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (2021)
  • "FutureLearn and Learning Analytics using Machine Learning and Statistical Modelling", Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo, Brazil (2018)
  • "Big Data and Learning Analytics", Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018)
  • "Gamification and Immersion in eLearning", Northeastern University, Shenyang, China (2017)
  • "Distance Learning MBA Courses at Warwick Business School", Researcher Link Workshop. Maceió, Brazil (2017)


Research

My research core is to reimagine and transform human-AI interactions by integrating rigorous HCI principles with cutting-edge AI technologies. I explore innovative human-AI co-creation pathways, firmly grounding these interactions in ethical, legal, and societal (ELS) considerations to ensure technological advancement aligns with human values and social good.

Driven by a focus on empirically testing and refining AI-powered interactive systems, my work prioritises systems that enhance human potential – specifically, technologies fostering creativity, productivity, adaptability, and participation, while centring diversity, inclusion, and heterogeneity. These non-negotiable values underpin AI systems that are both efficient and ethically responsible, technologically advanced and socially beneficial.

My research spans high-impact applied fields including education (adaptive learning tools), design (AI-augmented creative workflows), publicity (ethical content moderation), cybersecurity (user-friendly harm detection), healthcare (patient-centric AI diagnostics), and well-being (mental health support tools). Across all sectors, I prioritise the ethical and societal implications of human-centric AI to ensure innovation serves the public good.

I lead (as PI) AI-driven Privacy Risk Assessment in Cyber Insurance - a £100,000 a UKFin+ network funded project (2026) to address a critical gap in cyber insurance, which currently covers security risks but overlooks major privacy risks such as GDPR violations and data misuse, leaving insurers and businesses vulnerable to unforeseen fines and reputational harm. By leveraging AI to develop privacy risk-scoring tools that integrate with traditional security assessments, and collaborating directly with insurers and banks, this project will enable more accurate risk evaluations, fairer premium-setting, and better alignment of costs with actual business risks. Ultimately, the project aims to strengthen the UK’s cyber insurance resilience, with key outputs shared via UKFin+ to drive wider industry adoption.

I lead (as PI) Bridging Contexts: Inclusive AI Co-Design and PhD Research Exchange Between the UK and Brazil – a £40,000 British Council-funded initiative (2026-2027) in collaboration with Prof. Dante Barone (Head of Computational Neurosciences and Cybernetics Systems Lab, UFRGS, Brazil). The project addresses educational inequities for marginalised Brazilian children by building inclusive AI design research capacity, facilitating UK-Brazil PhD knowledge exchange, co-developing child-centred inclusive AI educational tools, and establishing sustainable academic-industry partnerships for equitable quality education access.

I also lead (as PI) FAMOUS: Fake Activity Market Observation System of Unethical Services, a €400,000 European Media and Information Fund-funded project (2024-2026) tackling Europe’s growing fake online activity crisis. It disrupts the underground market ecosystem, fuelling disinformation, influencer fraud, phishing, and counterfeit sales, delivering accessible real-time tracking tools for social platforms, regulators, researchers, marketers, and the public to generate actionable insights against harm.

In addition, I am a co-lead (as Co-I) for the EPSRC-funded AGENCY - Assuring Citizen Agency in a World with Complex Online Harms (EP/W032481/1 and EP/W032481/2, fEC £3.44M, 2022-2025). This interdisciplinary initiative unites computer scientists, social scientists, legal experts, and community stakeholders to develop evidence-based methods, user-centric technologies, and collaborative frameworks—empowering individuals to exercise online agency amid evolving harms like deepfakes, algorithmic bias, and exploitation.

For details on my current projects, visit here. For my full and updated publications, see my Google Scholar profile.

Teaching

I lead module CSC8611 Human-Artificial Intelligence (AI) Interaction & Futures and lecture on CSC3094 Major Project and Dissertation in Computer Science

Prior to joining Newcastle, I was module leader for COMP2261 Artificial Intelligence (delivering its Machine Learning sub-module) and created a new module COMP3647 Human-AI Interaction Design, at Durham University.

I supervise student projects across these modules:

  • CSC3094 - Major Project and Dissertation in Computer Science (UG)
  • CSC8609 - Project in Human-Computer Interaction (PGT)
  • CSC8499 - Project and Dissertation for MSc in Advanced Computer Science (PGT)
  • CSC8429 - Capstone Project for Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship (PGT)
  • CSC8099 - Project and Dissertation for MSc Computer Science (PGT)
Publications