Safinah Ali

Safinah Ali is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Communication and Technology Management at New York University. She earned her PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab. Her research focuses on developing AI tools and social robots to support children’s creative learning and socioemotional development. She also designs inclusive AI curricula to help educators and students understand AI concepts and applications. Her work has been published in various academic journals and conferences, including the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, Frontiers in Robotics and AI, and ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Additionally, she has received several honors including the 2024 Teaching Excellence Award, Microsoft Research Fellowship (2022-2024), and the MIT Teaching Development Fellowship.

• 2023–Present·New York University·Assistant Professor
  • Researching the use of AI tools and social robots to support children’s creative learning and socioemotional development.
  • Developing inclusive AI curricula to enhance students' AI knowledge and career interests.

• 2018-2023·Massachusetts Institute of Technology·PhD (Media Arts and Sciences)
  • Studied the impact of social robots on children’s creative learning and the inclusive design of AI educational resources.
• 2016-2018·Carnegie Mellon University·Master's (Human-Computer Interaction)
  • Focused on the application of interactive technologies in education and societal challenges.
• 2012-2016·Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Guwahati)·Bachelor's (Design)
  • Developed creative computing technologies and explored their applications in addressing social issues.