Hi! I’m Mahika Phutane, a PhD candidate at Cornell.
I’m advised by Prof. Aditya Vashistha, and I study how artificial intelligence (AI) serves, represents, and supports people with disabilities.
My research investigates disability bias in AI systems by centering the experiences of people with disabilities to evaluate and shape AI safety. Using mixed methods inquiry, I focus on high-stakes domains like online harm and algorithmic hiring, spaces where AI may deepen the very exclusions it is meant to solve.
Navigating away from W.E.I.R.D framings of harm, I also study disability bias in the Global South, where 80% of the world’s disabled populations reside (UN). I examine how global inequities are reproduced in AI systems,
presenting a deliberate effort to weave cross-cultural framings of disability into my evaluations of global and regional AI models.
More broadly, my research lies at the intersections of Human-Computer Interaction, Accessibility, Human-Centered AI, and AI Safety.
My research is published in top venues such as ACM CHI, ASSETS, FAccT, and AAAI/ACM AIES,
and spans collaborations across industry (Microsoft Research), and government (NYC Mayor’s Office of PwD).
My work has been generously supported by the Dennis Washington Foundation, Siegel Public Interest Tech Impact Fellowship, and DLI Doctoral Fellowship.
News Highlights
July 2025: Paper on Cross-Cultural Ableism in AI accepted at AIES ‘25!
Jun 2025: Presented Ableism in LLMs Paper at FAccT ‘25 in Athens, Greece!
Jun 2024: Started an internship at Microsoft Research India in Bengaluru!
Oct 2023: Presented Conversational Screen Reader Paper at ASSETS ‘23 in NYC!
Sep 2023: Awarded the DLI Doctoral Fellowship!
May 2023: Awarded the PiTech Fellowship to work with the NYC MOPD!
Oct 2022: Presented Tactile Materials Paper at ASSETS ‘22 in Athens, Greece!
May 2021: Paper accepted at CHI Interactivity!
Jan 2021: Presented Maestro, an AI Vocal Coach, at Google Magenta
May 2020: Graduated from UToronto with a B.Sc in Computer Science and CCIT! 🎓
Feb 2020: Appeared in the Wall Street Journal for winning Dennis Washington Fellowship!