Computing platforms shape our interactions with other people: how we collaborate, how we socialize, and even how we govern. By changing these computing platforms, we change human behavior: as Winston Churchill said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” How do we design these computing systems effectively and responsibly? My research in human-computer interaction advances systems, designs, and models for social computing systems. In doing so, I aim to shed light on long-standing research questions: How do we cross the gap between social scientific knowledge and concrete system designs that manifest this knowledge into pro-social interactions? How can we model human attitudes and behavior to help us craft technology and social policy? How should we design our computational tools if we want them to be successfully embedded into society?
Bio: Michael Bernstein is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he is a Bass University Fellow, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and Interim Director of the Symbolic Systems Program. His research focuses on designing social, societal, and interactive technologies. This research has been reported in venues such as The New York Times, TED AI, and MIT Technology Review, and Michael himself has been recognized with an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the UIST Lasting Impact Award, and the Computer History Museum's Patrick J. McGovern Tech for Humanity Prize. Michael holds a bachelor's degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, as well as a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT.
Publications
Omar Shaikh, 
Michelle Lam, Joey Hejna, Yijia Shao, Justin Cho, 
Michael Bernstein, and Diyi Yang
Michael Bernstein, Ramesh Johari, and Nikhil Garg.
Michael Bernstein, Mykel J. Kochenderfer
Lindsay Popowski, Yutong Zhang, Michael Bernstein
Joseph Seering, Manas Khadka, Nava Haghighi, Tanya Yang, Zachary Xi, Michael Bernstein
Michael S. Bernstein
Michael Bernstein
Michelle Lam, Helena Vasconcelos, Michael Bernstein, Chelsea Finn
Michael S. Bernstein, Jeffrey T. Hancock, 
Chenyan Jia, Marijn N. Mado, Jeanne L. Tsai, and Chunchen Xu
Michelle S. Lam, Janice Teoh, James Landay, Jeffrey Heer, Michael Bernstein
Omar Shaikh, Valentino Chai, Michele Gelfand, Diyi Yang, and Michael Bernstein
Amy X. Zhang, Michael Bernstein, David Karger, and Mark Ackerman
Chenyan Jia*, Michelle S. Lam*, Minh Chau Mai, Jeff Hancock, Michael S. Bernstein
Joon Sung Park, Joseph O'Brien, Carrie Cai, Meredith Ringel Morris, Percy Liang, Michael Bernstein
Mitchell L. Gordon, Lindsay Popowski, Michael BernsteinMichael Bernstein, Angèle Christin, Jeffrey Hancock, Tatsunori Hashimoto, Chenyan Jia, Michelle S. Lam, Nicole Meister, Nathaniel Persily, 
Tiziano Piccardi, Martin Saveski, Jeanne Tsai, Johan Ugander, Chunchen Xu
Omar Shaikh, Hongxin Zhang, William Held, Michael Bernstein, and Diyi Yang
Michelle S. Lam, Zixian Ma, Anne Li, Izequiel Freitas, Dakuo Wang, James A. Landay, Michael S. Bernstein
Michael Bernstein
Michael Bernstein, 
Ranjay Krishna
Wed 2:30pm-3:45pm
Teaching 2024–2025:
2023–2024
2022–2023
Talks and Events
Ph.D. students
Postdocs
Ph.D. alumni
Assistant Professor, MIT
Assistant Professor, University of Washington
Senior Research Scientist, Google
Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley
Co-founder, Vcreate
Staff Research Scientist, Discord
Senior UX Researcher, Instagram
Senior Research Scientist, Adobe
Associate Professor, Emory
Postdoc alumni
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
Assistant Professor, KAIST
Assistant Professor, University of Washington
Senior Computational Social Scientist, University of Pennsylvania
Founder, Pi Network