The Intelligent Choice

Nine years after her move from Ukraine to Norway and BI, Kateryna now works as a postdoctoral fellow at BI, doing research on artificial intelligence and how humans trust and interact with this technology.

– I have been fascinated by the idea that technology can perform certain tasks and services even better than people can do, and now I get to research how this affects our daily life, she explains.

Her PhD focused on wearable activity trackers and how they affect us, but she has also worked on other topics, like gamification. Having discussed her work at both TedX and Wired events, Kateryna’s current research work is focused on a hot topic: Artificial intelligence and the algorithms we meet in our everyday life. As a part of the "Algorithmic Accountability" project, Kateryna’s team at BI works alongside fellow researchers in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, and the USA on how and why we trust this technology.

This international research community is an important reason why she loves her work at BI.

– If you have a passion for a research topic, you can reach out to academics who already work on this and connect – all over the world. And at BI, you have lots of very well connected academics who you can learn from how to do just that. Teachers and researchers come from all over the world to work here.

– Why is that important for a student?

– Because this diverse environment gives you a lot of different perspectives and points of view. You will be challenged to think in new ways about what you thought you knew! But also because BI has close connections to the best institutions abroad. During my PhD, for example, I spent half a year doing research at Harvard – where BI, and particularly Nordic Centre for Internet and Society, is a well recognised name.

When Kateryna started her Master of Science programme in Strategic Marketing Management at BI in 2012, she already had a bachelor in Sociology from back home in Ukraine – and a curious eye for people and behaviour. This led her to her own idea for the PhD research topic.

– Back then, wearable self-tracking body sensors like the Fitbit were quickly gaining traction among people who wanted to track their activities. But this new behavioural trend had not been subject to much academic attention at the time. And one freezing cold night, when I wanted to hop on a bus to get home quickly, my friend insisted on walking.

– Why?

– Because she had this new fitness tracker on her wrist, and needed more steps to reach her daily goal! That really piqued my interest.

That's when Kateryna realised that she could pursue this and do her own research. When her master was done, she applied for a PhD programme at BI's Department of Communication and Culture. In 2020, Kateryna defended her PhD on the effects of digital self-tracking and self-quantification.

– To me, it’s all about people. Everything I do as a researcher, in some way is connected to understanding the human nature and how we look at and accept certain phenomenons.

– You have come far in these last nine years. What has been your most important, personal trait during your studies and PhD work?

– My optimism, I guess. I’m willing to give new things a try, I have this passion when it comes to solving things – but I also know when to ask for help. Also, I have learned the most important insight: You have to remind yourself that there is much more to life than your studies, your dissertation and your work. Remembering that idea, and getting energy from that, really inspired me in my work.