Doctoral student at Western University’s Library & Information Science PhD Program (expected May 2027), under the supervision of Dr. Luke Stark. I am focusing on the data cleaning practices in the industry, and how these practices may be discarding marginalized communities’ data. I will be conducting an ethnographic study with a team of developers in the industry.
I’m passionate about the intersection of social justice and technology, examining the impact of high-tech ‘solutions’ on individual lives as well as the broader society. I have an undergraduate degree in cultural studies & communication, supported by a graduate degree in human-computer interaction design and practical experience designing demonstration systems.
My work and interests are highly interdisciplinary, spanning: data ethics; critical computing; algorithmic fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics (FATE/FAccT); science, technology & society studies (STSS); human-computer interaction (HCI).
Get my CV //
Explore my publications on Google Scholar //
Watch some of my 5-minute conference presentations //
Watch a 30-minute summary of my dissertation research topic (for non-experts).
Latest news
October 2025:
– I presented a critical analysis of the MIMIC medical dataset at AIES 2025 in Madrid, Spain.
September 2025:
– I was on a panel at 4S 2025, presenting my dissertation topic as an example of repair work in AI development.
August 2025:
– I am wrapping up a 12-week internship with Dr. Alexandra Olteanu at the Microsoft Research FATE team in Montréal, QC, Canada.
Selected Publications
A Critical Look at a Critical Care Dataset: MIMIC-IV’s Construction, Contents, & Consequences
by Pınar Barlas. In Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES), 2025.
Data Cleaning, Discard Studies, and Discretionary Power
by Pınar Barlas. In Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES), 2024.
Person, Human, Neither: The Dehumanization Potential of Automated Image Tagging
by Pınar Barlas, Kyriakos Kyriakou, Styliani Kleanthous, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the 2021 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES), 2021.
PDF // Poster // ACM digital library // 5-minute presentation
Shifting Our Awareness, Taking Back Tags: Temporal Changes in Computer Vision Services’ Social Behaviors
by Pınar Barlas, Maximilian Krahn, Styliani Kleanthous, Kyriakos Kyriakou, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the 16th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2022.
To "See" is to Stereotype: Image Tagging Algorithms, Gender Recognition, and the Accuracy-Fairness Trade-off
by Pınar Barlas, Kyriakos Kyriakou, Olivia Guest, Styliani Kleanthous, and Jahna Otterbacher. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (PACM HCI 4, CSCW3, Article 232), 2020.
Education
PhD. Library & Information Sciences
Western University (London, ON, Canada)
Current (since Fall 2022)
M.A. Interaction Design
Harbour.Space University (Barcelona, Spain)
2016 - 2017
B.A. Cultural Studies & Communication
Clark University (Worcester, MA, USA)
2012 - 2016
Recent Employment
Research Assistant
Under the supervision of Prof. Joanna Redden at Western University
Current (since Fall 2022). Previously with Dr. Luke Stark.
Teaching Assistant
In the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University
Current (since Fall 2022)
Research Associate
Selected Awards & Grants
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
Province of Ontario & Western University, 2024
Nominated for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
Government of Canada, 2024
Catherine Sheldrick Ross Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship
Western University, 2022
Island-Wide Perspective & Reach Research & Innovation Grant (CyCLOPS Project)
CYENS Centre of Excellence, 2022
Fulbright Cyprus-America Scholarship (CASP)
Cyprus Fulbright Commission, 2011