Research

Publications & Presentations

My PhD research areas span Human-AI Interaction, software engineering practices and workflows, moral agents, and ethical AI. Primary supervisor: Prof. Caroline Jay. Secondary supervisor: Dr. Emily C. Collins, University of Manchester.

Papers

Publications

When Transparency Deceives: Risks and Ethical Safeguards in XAI In preparation

Vlasceanu, A.M., Collins, E.C., Jay, C. · In preparation for ICRES 2026 Proceedings
Beyond the Honest Explainer: Systematising Security and Ethical Risks and Evaluation Criteria for Explanations in AI Systems Conference

Vlasceanu, A.M., Collins, E.C., Jay, C. · Transparent and Interpretable Robots (TRAIL) Conference · 04/2026
AI-Assisted Reasoning: Evaluating Interactive versus Static Advice on the Wason Selection Task In preparation

Vlasceanu, A.M., Farmer, G. · In preparation for Cognitive Processing
Perceptions of Student Feedback Quality: A Comparative Study of AI-Generated and Human-Generated Content In preparation

Vlasceanu, A.M., Jenkins, R., Quinn, S. · In preparation for Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

Perceptual Discrimination of Action Formidableness and Friendliness and the Impact of Autistic Traits

Vlasceanu, A.M., de la Rosa, S. & Barraclough, N.E. · Nature (Scientific Reports) · 10/2024
Perception of Human Actions on the Four Fundamental Dimensions of Formidableness, Friendliness, Intentionality and Abduction

Barraclough, N.E., Vinton, L.C., Vlasceanu, A.M., Mackie, G., De La Rosa, S., Preston, C., Tipper, S.P. · Journal of Vision · 09/2024

Talks

Conference Presentations

International Conference on Robot Ethics and Standards (ICRES)

09/2026 · Cranfield, UK
Global PhD Network in Education Innovation Forum 2026

Invited panel speaker on AI, data, and EdTech · 06/2026 · Manchester, UK
Transparent and Interpretable Robots (TRAIL) Conference

04/2026 · Catania, Italy
Human-AI Teaming Workshop

04/2026 · Sheffield, UK
Student Spring Symposium

05/2024 · Thessaloniki, Greece
YUSU Community Conference

02/2024 · York, England
Harvard National Collegiate Research Conference

01/2024 · Cambridge, US

Recognition

Awards & Scholarships

Dean's Doctoral Scholarship

University of Manchester · 09/2025
STELLIFY Award

University of Manchester · 09/2025
York Award — Exemplary 2024 Graduate Year Student

University of York · 05/2024
Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership — Best Scholar Project Award

University of York · Funding of up to £7,000 for independent research · 06/2022