Associate Professor in AI and Society, joint with the Oxford Internet Institute and in association with Wadham College
Ekaterina Hertog is the Associate Professor of AI and Society at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie at the intersection of digital sociology and family sociology. Her current research explores how digital technologies transform family life, with a particular focus on the adoption and impact of AI and digital technologies in childcare. Her recent work examines the societal implications of digital monitoring technologies, investigating how these technologies affect parent-child relationships, children's autonomy, and family well-being.
She has published a position paper on "Data Driven Parenting" as part of the British Academy Digital Good Society series and is developing a research programme on digital technologies in childcare. Her work on parental control technologies has received widespread media attention, including features in a BBC Ideas short film and podcasts by the Oxford Internet Institute and ParentZone.
This research builds upon her ESRC-funded DomesticAI project, which investigated how emerging technologies could free up or redistribute time currently devoted to childcare and housework, and examined individual attitudes toward domestic automation. The project generated several highly sighted papers in journals, including PLOS ONE, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Community Work and Family.