Silvia Ecclesia
About
I am a doctoral researcher at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (KULT), part of the Centre for Gender Research and of the DigiKULT research group. I am part of the Horizon Europe project "BIAS: Mitigating diversity biases in the labor market" and have supported the Horizon 2020 project "Robotics4EU: Robots within and for society" and the project "LIFEBOTS Exchange Extended" funded by the Norwegian Research Council.
My doctoral research investigates Artificial Intelligence (AI) imaginaries of work, with attention to issues of bias and inclusion. Our shared imaginaries of how the future of AI and work will look hold several assumptions and visions that shape AI development and use today. Thus, in my research, I aim to uncover these assumptions to promote ethical and human-centric AIs. Science fiction, informing these visions, also plays a key role and is a prominent part of my research. Overall, I am highly interested in and inspired by feminist technoscience theories and approaches that invite us to think differently about how we live with technologies and with each other.
I have conducted several interviews and observations with people working in human resources, exploring their use, expectations, and perceptions of AI. I have also organized several workshops for the BIAS project, and a series of capacity-building events on the topic of robotics for agile production for the Robotics4EU project. I am a nerd for science fiction and cinema and have organized in the past the "Cyborg Cinema" movie screening series.
I am part of the Feminist Organization Studies and Feminist AI reading groups.
Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions for my work. Thank you!
Academic background
I have a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences for Globalization from the University of Milan and a master's degree in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute, with a major in Global Security and a minor in Gender Studies. My master's thesis proposed a post-phenomenological analysis of the phenomenon of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and how it affects gender relations.
Publications
2026
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Ecclesia, Silvia.
(2026)
Imagining AI at work: the impact of polarized imaginaries on AI use in human resources management.
Journal of Workplace Learning
Academic article
2025
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Sandvik, Frida Englund;
Ecclesia, Silvia;
Wang, Shan;
Puttick, Alexandre;
Walawski, Jan Jakub.
(2025)
The Hiring Black Box.
Exhibition
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Ecclesia, Silvia.
(2025)
Algorithmic imaginary of AI for recruitment: perceptions and experiences of AI use from HR practitioners.
CEUR Workshop Proceedings
Academic article
Journal publications
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Ecclesia, Silvia.
(2026)
Imagining AI at work: the impact of polarized imaginaries on AI use in human resources management.
Journal of Workplace Learning
Academic article
-
Ecclesia, Silvia.
(2025)
Algorithmic imaginary of AI for recruitment: perceptions and experiences of AI use from HR practitioners.
CEUR Workshop Proceedings
Academic article
Artistic productions
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Sandvik, Frida Englund;
Ecclesia, Silvia;
Wang, Shan;
Puttick, Alexandre;
Walawski, Jan Jakub.
(2025)
The Hiring Black Box.
Exhibition
Outreach
2025
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LectureSøraa, Roger Andre; Ecclesia, Silvia. (2025) Experiences and insights from the project “BIAS: mitigating AI bias in the labor market”. Digital Transformation in Society and Culture - Public Lecture Series
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia; Wang, Shan; Søraa, Roger Andre. (2025) “The bias of thinking you’re unbiased” – attribution of bias in human-AI interaction for recruitment and its impact on trust. Artificial Intelligence, Politics and Societies
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Other presentationHellstrand, Ingvil; Müller, Anders Riel; Fisker, Jens Kaae; Macintyre, Thomas Kloster-Jensen; Ecclesia, Silvia; Myong, Lene. (2025) Framtidsverksted på Ungdommens forskernatt | Universitetet i Stavanger. Framtidsverksted
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia. (2025) Cyborg imaginaries: A Framework for Studying the Future of Artificial Intelligence between Fact and Fiction. 12TH EUROPEAN FEMINIST RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2025
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia. (2025) Bias in AI for recruitment: experiences from fieldwork. genre/numerique Assise 2025
2024
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Conference lectureSøraa, Roger Andre; Ecclesia, Silvia; WANG, Shang. (2024) AI and ghost work in hiring processes: analyzing sociotechnical transformations in contemporary recruitment processes. EASST-4S
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Conference posterEcclesia, Silvia. (2024) Robots and AI for Agile Production: Future Narratives and User Acceptance. European Robotics Forum 2024
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia. (2024) The Future of HR and AI: how HR practitioners imagine the future of their profession by negotiating AI dystopia. NEON-dagene 2024
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia. (2024) The Terminator’s Legacy: human-centric vs. post-human futures of AI. Terminator @40: Origins and Legacies Conference
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Conference lectureWang, Shan; Ecclesia, Silvia; Søraa, Roger Andre. (2024) Transmitting Expertise: Delegation between humans and non-humans in AI-based worker recruitment. Swedish STS conference
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Conference lectureWang, Shan; Ecclesia, Silvia; Søraa, Roger Andre. (2024) AI and ghost work in hiring processes: analyzing sociotechnical transformations in contemporary recruitment processes. EASST-4S conference
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Conference posterWang, Shan; Ecclesia, Silvia; Díaz, Xavier Sánchez; Søraa, Roger Andre; Øztürk, Pinar. (2024) Investigating the Ethical Dimensions of AI: An Interdisciplinary Approach Combining CBR and “It Could be Otherwise”. NorwAI Innovate Conference 2024
2023
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Conference lectureSerrano, Jose Artur; Cavallo, Filippo; Fiorini, Laura; Pecini, Chiara; Lieto, Maria Chiara Di; Sgandurra, Giuseppina; Ecclesia, Silvia; Campbell, Cecilie; Maridal, Viviann; Sorrentino, Alessandra. (2023) Workshop on Human Robot Interaction - a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral context to promote robotic inclusiveness. Workshop organised under the LIFEBOTS project
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LectureEcclesia, Silvia; Søraa, Roger Andre; Cheng, Yu; Hurum, Jin Kristian. (2023) Agile Production digital workshop: "Beyond Industry 5.0: reskilling the labor force and the future of agile production". Beyond Industry 5.0: reskilling the labor force and the future of agile production
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Conference lectureCheng, Yu; Ecclesia, Silvia; Hurum, Jin Kristian. (2023) Robotics4EU 2 Days Co-Creation Workshop in Agile Production and Inspection & Maintenance. Robotics4EU co-creation workshops series
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia; Karakas, Öznur; Cheng, Yu; Hurum, Jin Kristian. (2023) Addressing data challenges in robotics for agile production. Robotics4EU 4th digital workshop series
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Conference lectureEcclesia, Silvia; Cheng, Yu; Karakas, Öznur; Søraa, Roger Andre. (2023) Cobots in Agile Production: Redefining the Future of Human-Robot Interaction. Robotics4EU physical event