About speaker

Pamela Pavliscak

Pratt Institute

Professor of AI & Emotional Design

Tech emotionographer • Author of All the Feels (2026)

Pamela is founder of Subjective, where she studies how emerging technologies shape emotion, and an associate professor in design psychology at Pratt Institute in NYC. She is the author of All the Feels: How to Stay Human in the Digital World and Emotionally Intelligent Design. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, BBC, and NPR and has informed work with organizations including Google, IKEA, and Vinted. She has spoken about the future of feeling at SXSW, TEDx, Web Summit, and House of Beautiful Business.

Talk details

Talk
UX/UI Beginner

From Feed to Friend: The Emotional Architecture of AI

Pamela Pavliscak
Pamela Pavliscak Professor of AI & Emotional Design at Pratt Institute
AI Emotional Design Psychology

AI did not suddenly become emotional once it learned how to have a conversation. Recommender systems have shaped a range of feelings from FOMO to belonging to outrage. Now generative AI systems that remember and reassure add greater intimacy to the interaction.

Drawing on over a decade of research into technology and emotion, Pamela traces the shift from behavioral AI to relational AI. The talk will introduce a new framework for understanding the emotional mechanics at work in the design of AI systems (generative and otherwise) as well as the survival skills people develop in response. Attendees will leave with a practical way to recognize the emotional architecture of AI products, and with new ideas for designing systems that support human agency and wellbeing.

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Data

Leadership

Product

AI/ML

UX/UI

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