Mahika Phutane is a PhD student at Cornell. She studies the growingly disparate relationship between AI-enabled assistive technologies and users with disabilities. Through her work, she explores how we can better understand, design, and deploy systems for accessibility. She has worked with individuals with various disabilities, and across a modality of technologies, such as mixed reality headsets and voice assistants. Currently, she studies the opportunities and implications of conversational AI for blind and low vision users.

Mahika employs a diverse set of methods for her work, including traditional user studies, qualitative interviewing, Wizard of Oz, and speculative design. She previously completed her BSc at the University of Toronto, and is involved in ongoing projects at the NYC Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities.