Jenna Cryan

Jenna Cryan is a computer scientist specializing in human-computer interaction, particularly in studying how users interact with modern machine learning systems and applications, and their societal impact. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Chicago in 2023, along with undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. During her doctoral studies, she led research on the generative AI protection tool "Glaze," taking charge of user studies for the project. Jenna’s research has been recognized with awards such as the CHI 2020 Best Paper Honorable Mention, the USENIX Outstanding Paper Award, and the USENIX Internet Defense Prize. Additionally, the “Glaze” tool developed by her team has been downloaded globally over 1.6 million times, providing an effective solution to help artists prevent generative AI-based plagiarism. In 2024, Jenna was named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" list, underscoring her innovative contributions in the field of computer science.

• 2023·Glaze Project·Lead User Researcher
  • Led user research efforts, coordinating over 1,000 artists to evaluate the tool’s effectiveness, usability, and acceptance.
  • Demonstrated high efficiency of the tool with low perturbations (normal conditions >92%, adversarial conditions >85%).

• 2018-2023·University of Chicago·Ph.D.
  • Major: Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction
• 2014-2018·University of California, Santa Barbara·Bachelor’s and Master’s
  • Major: Computer Science