BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 16.0 MIMEDIR//EN VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Central Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:16011104T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:16010311T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3 TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20260924T185418Z DESCRIPTION:Speaker:\nAndreia Sofia Teixeira\, Associate Professor\, Networ k Science Institute\, Northeastern University London\n\n\nTitle:\nHuman Re lational Ecology and Conversational AI: From Social Actor to Asymmetric Co -Regulation\n\n\nAbstract: \nHuman cognition\, mental health and relations hips unfold within interconnected social systems that change over time. Dr awing on work on cognitive-affective structure\, the evolution of supporti ve and conflictual ties in adolescent social networks\, and distinct socia l envirotypes associated with mental health and context-dependent patterns of brain connectivity\, I will discuss what these different perspectives tell us about the human relational ecology in which wellbeing is embedded\ , including the role of co-regulation in shaping emotion\, cognition and b ehaviour.\n \nUnderstanding this ecology is especially important as conver sational AI emerges as a new kind of social actor. These systems can simul ate some of the interactional signals associated with co-regulation\, incl uding responsiveness\, validation\, emotional language and apparent empath y\, but without reciprocal lived experience\, vulnerability\, embodiment o r shared accountability. I will introduce the concept of asymmetric co-reg ulation to frame this distinction.\n \nBuilding on emerging work at the in tersection of AI use\, social networks and real-world human–AI conversat ions\, I will ask what happens when conversational AI moves beyond instrum ental use and starts to occupy more relational roles: when it may scaffold or substitute for existing human capacities and forms of support\, how re peated interactions may shape regulation and sense of agency over time\, a nd how these dynamics may become embedded within wider social relationship s.\n\n\nSpeaker Bio:\nAndreia Sofia Teixeira is an Associate Professor at the Network Science Institute\, North eastern University London\, where she leads the BRAN Lab (Behavioral Resea rch and Adaptive Networks). Her research sits at the intersection of netwo rk science and machine learning\, developing measures\, computational mode ls and simulation frameworks to understand the structure and dynamics of c omplex systems\, and how local behaviour can spill over to collective scal es. Her work spans human–AI interaction\, collective behaviour\, cogniti ve and affective networks\, signed and temporal social networks\, mental h ealth and neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Across these a reas\, she is particularly interested in how individual states\, relations hips and broader social environments shape one another over time.\n\nLocat ion:\nIn person: Chambers Hall\, 600 Foster Street\, Lower Level\nRemote o ption: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/98367624907 \nPasscode: NIC O26\n\n\nAbout the Speaker Series:\nWednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly se minar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems\, networks\ , and artificial intelligence. It brings together attendees ranging from g raduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Nort hwestern\, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on futu re speakers.\n \n DTEND;TZID="Central Standard Time":20261021T130000 DTSTAMP:20260924T185418Z DTSTART;TZID="Central Standard Time":20261021T120000 LAST-MODIFIED:20260924T185418Z LOCATION:Chambers Hall (600 Foster St\, Evanston\, IL 60201) PRIORITY:5 RECURRENCE-ID;TZID="Central Standard Time":20261021T120000 SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY;LANGUAGE=en-us:Wed@NICO: Andreia Sofia Teixeira\, Northeastern Univ ersity London TRANSP:OPAQUE UID:040000008200E00074C5B7101A82E00800000000A06CD56D854BDD01000000000000000 010000000FD502B7634EB0B4F84204E9F72ECF6B8 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
< p class=MsoNormal>Speaker:

Andreia Sofia Teixeira\, Associate Professor\, Network Science Institute\, Northe astern University London

Title:< /p>

Human Relational Ecology and Conversational AI: From Social Actor to Asymmetric Co-Regulation

Abstr act: \;

Human cognition\, mental health and relationships unfold within interconne cted social systems that change over time. Drawing on work on cognitive-af fective structure\, the evolution of supportive and conflictual ties in ad olescent social networks\, and distinct social enviroty pes associated with mental health and context-dependent patterns of brain connectivity\, I will discuss what these different perspectives tel l us about the human relational ecology in which wellbeing is embedded\, i ncluding the role of co-regulation in shaping emotion\, cognition and behaviour.

&nb sp\;

Understanding this ecology is especially important as conversational AI emerges as a new kind of social actor. Thes e systems can simulate some of the interactional signals associated with c o-regulation\, including responsiveness\, validation\, emotional language and apparent empathy\, but without reciprocal liv ed experience\, vulnerability\, embodiment or sha red accountability. I will introduce the concept of asymmetric co-regulati on to frame this distinction.

 \ ;

Building on emerging work at the intersectio n of AI use\, social networks and real-world human–\;AI conversations \, I will ask what happens when conversational AI moves beyond instrumenta l use and starts to occupy more relational roles: when it may scaffold or substitute for existing human capacities and forms of support\, how repeat ed interactions may shape regulation and sense of agency over time\, and h ow these dynamics may become embedded within wider social relationships.

Speaker Bio:

Andreia Sofia Teixeira is an As sociate Professor at the Network Science Institute\, Northeastern Universi ty London\, where she leads the BRAN Lab (Behavioral Research and Adaptive Networks). Her research sits at the intersection of network science and m achine learning\, developing measures\, computational mo dels and simulation frameworks to understand the structure and dyna mics of complex systems\, and how local behaviour can spill over to collective scales. Her work spans human–\;AI inte raction\, collective behaviour\, cognitive and a ffective networks\, signed and temporal social networks\, mental health and neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorder s. Across these areas\, she is particularly interested in how individual s tates\, relationships and broader social environments shape one another ov er time.


Location:< /p>

In person: Chambers Hall\, 600 Foster Street\, Lower Level
Remote option: \; https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/98367624907
Passcode: NI CO26

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibran t weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems\ , networks\, and artificial intelligence. It brings together attendees ran ging from graduate students to senior faculty who span a ll of the schools across Northwestern\, from applied math to sociol ogy to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on fut ure speakers.

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