Lize Alberts

Lize Alberts

Doctoral Candidate | Research Fellow

University of Oxford

Leverhulme CFI

Stellenbosch University

Bio

I am a DPhil candidate in Computer Science at the University of Oxford, working in human-AI interaction. As Student Researcher at Google, I led a project on agentic LLM evaluation and alignment. I am also a Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University’s Unit for the Ethics of Technology, and a Research/Editorial Assistant at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge.

Drawing from my multi-disciplinary background, my work integrates machine learning, HCI, linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, behavioural psychology, and the social sciences. Thereby, I contribute to responsible AI development in ways that are at once critical, practical, and analytically rigorous.

In my personal life, I am an artist and poet, passionate about learning, travelling, and encountering diverse forms of art. I care deeply about understanding people and protecting the environment.

Interests
  • Human-Centred AI
  • LLM Evaluation & Alignment
  • Philosophy of Cognition & Language
  • Interaction/Behavioural Design Ethics
  • Computational Linguistics
  • Wellbeing-Supportive Technologies
Education
  • D.Phil. in Computer Science, submitted

    University of Oxford

  • M.A. by Thesis in Philosophy (Distinction, 84%), 2020

    Stellenbosch University

  • B.A. Hons. in Philosophy (Distinction, 82%), 2019

    Stellenbosch University

  • B.A. in Humanities (Philosophy and the Social Sciences | History of Art and English) (Distinction, 82%), 2018

    North-West University

Recent Publications

(2024). CURATe: Benchmarking Personalised Alignment of Conversational AI Assistants. Submitted to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) arXiv:2410.21159v1 [cs.HC].

PDF DOI

(2024). The Code That Binds Us: Navigating the Appropriateness of Human-AI Assistant Relationships. Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES), 7(1), 943-957. https://doi.org/10.1609/aies.v7i1.31694.

PDF DOI

(2024). Computers as Bad Social Actors: Dark and Anti-Patterns in Interfaces that Act Socially. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 8, Issue CSCW1, Article No. 202, pp 1–25.

PDF DOI

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence
Research & Editorial Assistant
September 2024 – Present Cambridge, UK
I am a Research and Editorial Assistant to the director of CFI, Dr. Stephen Cave. My role includes proofreading and copyediting manuscripts, conducting literature reviews, and contacting prospective authors for a bookseries on AI.
 
 
 
 
 
Google
Student Researcher
July 2023 – October 2023 London, UK
I worked for three months as a student researcher in the Cerebra team at Google. I led a project on the evaluation of agentic Large Language Models (LLMs), and proposed a novel ethical framework centred on duties of respectful treatment in interaction.
 
 
 
 
 
Royal Institution
Leader of Masterclass in Computer Science
March 2023 – March 2024 Oxford, UK
I designed a Royal Institution Masterclass on Dark Patterns that I lead annually at the University of Oxford.
 
 
 
 
 
Jesus College, The University of Oxford
Student Ambassador
April 2024 – June 2024 Oxford, UK
I was asked to design and lead a computer science workshop for Welsh state schoolchildren for Jesus College’s annual Women in Sciences Day.
 
 
 
 
 
University of Oxford
Graduate Research Assistant & Teaching Assistant
April 2020 – November 2022 Oxford, UK
I worked as an RA for the EPSRC-funded RoboTIPS project taking a Responsible Innovation approach to the research and development of social robots. I also helped teach two Software Engineering courses (Interaction Design, Requirements Engineering) and two Computer Science courses (Ethical Computing in Practice, Ethics and Responsible Innovation).
 
 
 
 
 
Responsible Technology Institute
Co-founder of RTI Student Network
November 2020 – January 2024 Oxford, UK
The RTI is an international centre of excellence on responsible technology. I co-founded its international student network connecting researchers interested in topics related to responsible innovation. I helped organise reading groups, expert panel discussions, and work-in-progress seminars.
 
 
 
 
 
Stellenbosch University
Lecturer & Teaching Assistant
February 2018 – July 2019 Stellenbosch, South Africa
I helped administer two Philosophy courses, gave frequent tutorials for first years and led a weekly seminar for a class of 80 third-years.
 
 
 
 
 
North-West University
Teaching Assistant & Seminar Leader
February 2015 – August 2017 Potchefstroom, South Africa
I helped administer several Philosophy and History of Art courses and led weekly seminars.

Recent Talks & Events

Contact

  • You can reach me at lize (dot) alberts @ cs.ox.ac.uk
  • Department of Computer Science, Wolfson Building, 7 Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QG