Shiye (Sally) Cao
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, co-advised by Dr. Chien-Ming Huang and Dr. Anqi Liu.
My research centers on developing conversational capabilities that enable robots to communicate naturally, effectively, and robustly as they work alongside people in their daily lives. Toward this goal, I empower stakeholders to author meaningful conversational activities, improve human-robot conversational dynamics, and repair conversational breakdowns. To test these ideas in the real world, I design, develop, and deploy generative AI–powered social robots in homes, studying how robots can support early language development, sustain engagement, and fit into family routines for children with diverse needs and capabilities.
My past work on human-AI interaction examined how factors like uncertainty communication and time pressure shape people’s reliance on AI during assisted decision-making.
Selected Publications (see full publication list here)
- IDC’26
ELLA: Generative AI-Powered Social Robots for Early Language Development at HomeProceedings of the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, 2026 - HRI’26
Reframing Conversational Design in HRI: Deliberate Design with AI ScaffoldsProceedings of the 2026 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2026 - RSS’25
Interruption Handling for Conversational RobotsProceedings of the 2025 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, 2025 - CSCW’24
Designing for Appropriate Reliance: The Roles of AI Uncertainty Presentation, Initial User Decision, and User Demographics in AI-Assisted Decision-MakingProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2024 - CSCW’22
Understanding User Reliance on AI in Assisted Decision-MakingProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2022
Services
Reviewer: THRI, HRI'26, CHI'26 (Outstanding Review), CSCW'25, HRI'25, CHI'25, HRI'24 (Outstanding Review), CSCW'24, CSCW'23
Organizer: ERR@HRI3.0 Challenge at ICMI'26, ERR@HRI2.0 Challenge at ACM-MM'25
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant, EN.601.491/691 Human-Robot Interaction Spring 2026
Teaching Assistant, EN.601.490/690 Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction Fall 2022
Course Assistant, EN.601.475/675 Machine Learning Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2021