ML-Enabled Abuse
How people abuse ML systems, and how people perceive and respond to abusive AI-generated media.
AI Sexual Content • Bias in AI Media Moderation • Perceptions of AI Media
Human Aspects of cyber Protection & PrivacY
The Happy Lab studies how people shape the security, privacy, and real-world use of machine learning systems. We investigate where human factors create new vulnerabilities, where they unlock better defenses, and how to build safer AI systems in practice.
Recent News
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April 15, 2026 Our paper with Drs. Lucy Qin and Elissa M. Redmiles from Georgetown University, "Unlimited Realm of Exploration and Experimentation": Methods and Motivations of AI-Generated Sexual Content Creators, was accepted to FAccT 2026!
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January 19, 2026 Work with the SEFCOM and TSP Lab, "I Can SE Clearly Now: Investigating the Effectiveness of GUI-based Symbolic Execution for Software Vulnerability Discovery", has been conditionally accepted to CHI 2026, congrats all!
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September 22, 2025 A joint work with Lindsay Sanneman and Anil Murthy was accepted to NeurIPS LLM-Eval Workshop.
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June 17, 2025 Jaron and Tanusree from the GPSLab were recently awarded Google Research Scholar Grant for their proposal: "Designing Accessible Tools for Blind and Low-Vision People to Navigate Deepfake Media"
Research Areas
ML Security and Privacy
How sociotechnical factors impact real-world adoption of ML defenses.
ML for Security Applications
How ML can be integrated into security-sensitive environments.
Security and Privacy (General)
Usable security and privacy, system security, and evaluation of HCI methodology.
Symbolic Exec GUI • Sociodemographics & Security • Audit Log SoK • Bot Survey Fraud • Privacy Zones
Interested in working with the group?
The lab site is the best place for current openings, application details, and ways to get involved.