Sterling Williams-Ceci
PhD Student, Information Science, Cornell University
scw222 [AT] cornell.edu
Bio
I'm a third-year PhD Student in Information Science at Cornell University, where I am extremely fortunate to be co-advised by Professor Michael Macy and Professor Mor Naaman. I am a member of Professor Macy's Social Dynamics Lab and Professor Naaman's Social Technologies Lab.
My research interests lie in examining how our interactions with algorithmic technologies can provoke undesirable psychological phenomena, such as persuasion and stereotyping. As two recent examples of this work, I have conducted online experiments (built directly on prior work from the Social Technologies Lab) showing that AI-generated suggestions during the writing process can influence people's attitudes about societal issues, and I have conducted early pilot experiments suggesting that AI chatbots' style of actively typing their responses can nudge people to agree with false stereotypes about identity groups. As an undergraduate student, I was the lead author on a paper testing the efficacy of video interventions to reduce parents' willingness to overshare about their children online, which appeared in the SRCD Conference with a top 1% award in Interdisciplinary Research, and in the journal Computers in Human Behavior in 2021 (linked here).
I received my B.A. in Social Psychology along with a B.A. in the Robert S. Harrison College Scholar program (also at Cornell) in 2021, with formal minors in Information Science and Communication. I was honored as a Summa cum Laude graduate, a Merrill Presidential Scholar (the top 1% of my graduating class) and a Phi Beta Kappa inductee. In my graduate studies, I have been fortunate to receive exceptional mentorship from both of my coadvisors and many other professors along the way, which I enjoy paying forward by mentoring other students. I aspire to become a professor after finishing my PhD. As hobbies, I enjoy outdoor running and learning new coding languages (my favorite is R).
Publications
Most recent publications on Google Scholar.
Bias in AI Autocomplete Suggestions Leads to Attitude Shift on Societal Issues
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Maurice Jakesch, Advait Bhat, Kowe Kadoma, Lior Zalmanson, Mor Naaman
Under Review, 2024
Misinformation does not reduce trust in accurate search results, but warning banners may backfire
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Michael W. Macy, Mor Naaman
Scientific Reports, 2024
Assessing gender bias in particle physics and social science recommendations for academic jobs
Robert H. Bernstein, Michael W. Macy, Wendy M. Williams, Christopher J. Cameron, Sterling C. Williams-Ceci, & Stephen J. Ceci
Social Sciences, vol. 11, 2022
Combating Sharenting: Interventions to Alter Parents' Willingness to Post About Their Children Online
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Gillian E. Grose‡, Annika C. Pinch‡, Rene F. Kizilcec, Neil A. Lewis, Jr.
Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 125, 2021
Combating Sharenting: Interventions to Alter Parents' Willingness to Post About Their Children Online
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Gillian E. Grose‡, Annika C. Pinch‡, Rene F. Kizilcec, Neil A. Lewis, Jr.
Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (SRCD), 2021
Top 1% of Posters Exemplifying Interdisciplinary Research
Bias in AI Autocomplete Suggestions Leads to Attitude Shift on Societal Issues
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Maurice Jakesch, Advait Bhat, Kowe Kadoma, Lior Zalmanson, Mor Naaman
Under Review, 2024
Misinformation does not reduce trust in accurate search results, but warning banners may backfire
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Michael W. Macy, Mor Naaman
Scientific Reports, 2024
'Is Reporting Worth the Sacrifice of Revealing What I've Sent?' Privacy Considerations When Reporting on End-to-End Encrypted Platforms
Leijie Wang, Ruotong Wang, Sterling Williams-Ceci, Sanketh Menda, Amy X. Zhang
Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), 2023
Assessing gender bias in particle physics and social science recommendations for academic jobs
Robert H. Bernstein, Michael W. Macy, Wendy M. Williams, Christopher J. Cameron, Sterling C. Williams-Ceci, & Stephen J. Ceci
Social Sciences, vol. 11, 2022
Combating Sharenting: Interventions to Alter Parents' Willingness to Post About Their Children Online
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Gillian E. Grose‡, Annika C. Pinch‡, Rene F. Kizilcec, Neil A. Lewis, Jr.
Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 125, 2021
Combating Sharenting: Interventions to Alter Parents' Willingness to Post About Their Children Online
Sterling Williams-Ceci, Gillian E. Grose‡, Annika C. Pinch‡, Rene F. Kizilcec, Neil A. Lewis, Jr.
Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (SRCD), 2021
Top 1% of Posters Exemplifying Interdisciplinary Research
CV
Click here for the most up-to-date version of my CV: Link to my CV
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Dr. Martin Saveski for creating this awesome website theme, and for letting me and others use it for free.Photo credit goes to Daye Kang, one of my wonderful friends in my PhD cohort!